Published 10/3/2002
GM move has some workers worried
Lansing plant's delay could leave some out of work
By Susan Stock
Lansing State Journal
Faced with the possibility of layoffs in a couple of years, employees at
GM's Lansing Car Assembly were left talking about job security Wednesday.
Possible job options
Some employees might work the second shift at the Lansing Grand
River plant, starting next spring.
Employees could head to a new Delta Township stamping plant, which
is expected to open next spring.
Some could continue at LCA. "Just because a product is leaving
doesn't mean a facility is necessarily closing," GM spokeswoman Kim
Carpenter said.
Others might transfer to GM's assembly plant in Lake Orion, where
the Grand Am will be moved, or to Fairfax, Kan., where the Malibu will
be moved.
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Some were angry. Some were worried. Some said it was to be expected.
But GM officials said it's too early to tell what will happen to
employees displaced by the delayed opening of the company's Delta Township
assembly plant and the loss of three products at LCA.
"It's eliminating jobs out of Lansing," said Rick Doak, a Sunfield
resident who works at LCA.
"We have a good work reputation and put out a good product, and then they
move it somewhere else."
On Tuesday, General Motors Corp. announced the departure of the Pontiac
Grand Am, Chevrolet Malibu and Oldsmobile Alero in 2004 and the delay of its
$1 billion Delta plant until fall 2006. The Delta project already had been
delayed once.
LCA employs about 5,000 people and the new plant will hire about 2,500.
GM is the area's largest private employer with about 11,000 workers at five
plants.
The delay of the Delta plant off Millett Highway might force GM to lay
off some employees, but township Supervisor Joe Drolett is hopeful the
impact will be minimal. Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in
early 2004.
"We've all worked so hard for the new plant," he said. "We don't want to
lose any jobs. With retirements and everything, that will hopefully balance
out."
GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter said the company is looking at several
scenarios to minimize the number of layoffs. Among the options:
Some employees might work the second shift at the Lansing Grand River
plant, starting next spring. Grand River, which opened in January,
eventually might get up to four vehicles to build.
Employees could head to a new Delta Township stamping plant, which is
expected to open next spring.
Some could continue at LCA, which has been building cars in Lansing
since the early 1900s. "Just because a product is leaving doesn't mean a
facility is necessarily closing," Carpenter said.
And others might transfer to GM's assembly plant in Lake Orion, where
the Grand Am will be moved, or to Fairfax, Kan., where the Malibu will be
moved. The Alero is being phased out with the entire Oldsmobile division.
But the International UAW makes the decision on transfers. Carpenter
didn't know when that decision would be made or when GM's plans regarding
displaced workers would be finalized.
Lansing Mayor David Hollister said he has been assured by GM that
"Lansing workers will not be left high and dry." He wouldn't offer details.
Finding work for employees "is in General Motors' best interest, that's
in the employees' best interest and it's in the community's best interest,"
he said.
But the assurance wasn't much comfort for some employees. Many day-shift
workers got the news from local media reports.
"They're concerned about what's coming down the road for them," said Art
Luna, president of UAW Local 602, which represents 3,200 employees at the
LCA body plant. "It's their livelihood. They have a right to be concerned."
Some weren't surprised about losing products.
"We knew they were going to be phasing our cars out," said Cheryl
Woodruff of Mason. "It's great that they're still going to go ahead with"
the new plant.
Others are taking a wait-and-see approach.
"Until it's carved in stone, we don't really know what's going to
happen," said Jerry Ripley, who has been working at GM for 24 years.
"Some of us are more concerned about what's going to happen when the (LCA)
plant goes down. It's a history of Lansing, basically."
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