Brown, Ryan Announce $1.7M in Aid to Lordstown Workers

Breaking: GM Lordstown to Cut 3rd Shift, 1250 Jobs

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – General Motors Corp. announced today that it is suspending third shift operations at two of its Midwestern plants, including the Lordstown Assembly.

The move will affect 1,202 hourly workers and 43 salaried workers at the plant, GM said in a release. The third shift will end Jan. 23, 2017.

The announcement is part of GM’s “initiatives to strengthen and align its production output at key U.S. manufacturing operations,” the automaker said. Driving the changes is the shift in sales to trucks from cars and small SUVs. The third shift at GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly in Michigan will also be eliminated.

Year-to-year sales of the Cruze have been trending upward recently, posting a 9% gain in October from a year before with 17,126 sold, but year-to-date sales at the end of last month were down nearly 20% from 2015 to 155,138.  All but one of Chevrolet’s cars, the Malibu, is beating last year’s numbers, according to the monthly sales report, while the brand’s SUVs and trucks are mostly showing an increase in sales.

GM also announced a $900 million investment in three plants, including the Lansing Grand River plant, where the Cadillac ATS and CTS and Chevrolet Camaro are built. The manufacturer will spend $211 on a new product program there, while $667.6 million will be spent at the Toledo Transmission Operations plant and $37 million will be spent on the Bedford Casting Operations.

UAW Locals 1112 and 1714, which represents workers at the Lordstown Assembly, will hold a press conference this afternoon, Local 1112 President Glenn Johnson said.

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