Laid Off Workers to Wait 1 More Year, UAW Says

Laid off workers from General Motors Spring Hill Plant will need to wait another year before they can finally go back to work. Nearly 2,100 hourly employees were axed in November 2009 as production of the Chevrolet Traverse was moved to Lansing, Michigan. Hundreds of GM Spring Hill employees were relocated to the Lansing plant and about 1,000 workers remain employed at the Spring Hill plant.

In September, GM announced that it would rehire around 483 workers to build the next generation of the Ecotec four-cylinder engine at the Spring Hill plant. But an announcement was recently made that it will be another year before staffing begins for the new engine line.

United Automobile Workers (UAW), Local 1853, President Michael O’Rourke said that some of those employees could be transferred to other GM plants in the U.S. for the meantime, until production begins at the Spring Hill factory. The transfer will be a ‘temporary’ assignment, since they have a return date to Spring Hill.

A report revealed that the benefits for about 650 laid off workers in Spring Hill are about to run out. The local UAW has set up a food pantry, collecting donations of canned goods and other items at the plant and union hall to assist affected workers.