Dive Brief:
- General Motors is laying off 1,314 workers at two plants in Michigan, according to two notices filed with the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity in Michigan.
- The layoffs included 945 workers at GM’s Orion Assembly facility and 369 at the automaker’s Lansing Grand River Assembly/Stamping plant.
- The layoffs come six weeks after GM agreed with the United Auto Workers union on a new labor contract that includes 25% wage hikes over the next four and a half years and the ability to strike against plant closures.
Dive Insight:
The first layoffs at the Orion plant are expected to begin Jan. 1, according to GM’s filing. The second phase starts Jan. 15.
At GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly/Stamping plant, layoffs will occur from Jan. 1 through March 25, 2024.
Workers facing layoffs at the Lansing facility produce the Chevrolet Camaro, which is being discontinued. The plant will continue to assemble the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 models. The factory currently employs 1,405 workers.
The Lake Orion plant was producing the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV, as well as the Origin shuttle, for GM’s autonomous driving unit Cruise. However, GM announced last month it had suspended production of the Origin after California regulators ordered Cruise to stop its ride-hailing operations in October following a pedestrian crash in downtown San Francisco. Cruise also announced layoffs this week, cutting 24% of its workforce yesterday.
The Orion plant currently employs 1,261 workers, according to GM.
The current Chevy Bolt EV and EUV electric models built at Orion Assembly are being discontinued. The Bolt EUV, however, will be relaunched in 2025 on GM’s Ultium EV platform. The automaker is retooling the plant to produce the new model.
Orion Assembly will also be retooled for electric truck production, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, in late 2025, GM spokesperson Jack Crawley said in an email.
Most of the impacted employees at GM’s Orion Assembly Plant, represented by UAW Local 5960, will be offered roles at other GM facilities, the automaker wrote in its WARN notice.
“We anticipate job opportunities for all impacted UAW-represented employees at Orion Assembly per the provisions of the UAW-GM National Agreement,” GM said in a statement. “Orion Assembly salaried employees will also be placed in other internal opportunities in accordance with GM policy.”
Workers at GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly/Stamping facility also have bumping rights under the collective bargaining agreement with the UAW, and the automaker expects that all of these workers will be offered roles at other GM facilities as well.
“GM anticipates having job opportunities for all impacted team members per the provisions of the UAW-GM National Agreement,” the company said in a statement.
