GM to cut over 1000 jobplaces in Michigan, US

General Motors will cut production and eliminate 1,100 workers at a plant in Michigan as it shifts production of a sport utility vehicle model to another factory in Tennessee. Most are hourly workers, with about 14 salaried.

The Lansing Delta Township plant will cease output of GMC Acadia SUVs on May 12, Tom Wickham. About 800 new jobs were created in that state as a result – and GM announced in January that it was adding a third shift in Spring Hill. 

The layoffs came despite record profits of $12 billion in 2016, allowing the company to award 52,000 hourly employees with up to $12,000 as part of a “profit sharing payout,” according to a February GM press release. It also reported a year-over-year total sales increase of 4% for the month of February thanks to “record sales of crossovers, large SUVs and pickups,” according to March release.

A GM spokeswoman said this morning in an email that the number of impacted employees in Delta Township could be fewer than 1,100, since some on the shift are on sick leave or plan retirements. "(We) won't know for sure until we get through the shift reduction," said Erin Davis.

Bill Reed, president of UAW Local 602, which represents the hourly workers at the plant, said the layoffs were expected. "This was a major vehicle change," he said. "It was kind of expected this was going to happen. I believe it's going to be for a short time."

More recently, GM has faced criticism, most notably from President Donald Trump, for outsourcing assembly jobs to plants in Mexico.