The United Auto Workers union at General Motors’ Orion plant will soldier on, but the workforce has deals with difficult decisions along the way.
To keep the plant competitive and cut costs, GM and the union have agreed to a new “Autonomous Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding,” which allows GM to employ lower-wage workers and reduce benefits for some positions at the Orion plant. Automotive News reported Sunday that the template could be used for other car plants in the U.S.
The agreement allows GM to bring in “outsourced” workers part of GM Subsystems Manufacturing. The employees are UAW members, but they receive lower pay and benefits, as mentioned. Cindy Estrada, a UAW vice president, said the situation “sucks,” but it keeps GM from shutting down a plant like Orion altogether.
“What would suck even more would be to have GM shut down any of our plants,” she said.
The report said some Subsystems employees have replaced other workers, who were moved to different positions at the plant. Although workers were replaced in certain areas, the agreement led to zero layoffs at Orion.
Such an agreement could come to another embattled GM plant: Lordstown, Ohio. However, UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg told AN that any similar proposal for Lordstown is off the table.
The union “is totally opposed to any proposal like this at Lordstown while people are on layoff.” GM will reduce the plant, which builds the Chevrolet Cruze, to a single shift later this year.
Orion is strictly a small-car plant and currently builds the 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV alongside the 2018 Chevrolet Sonic. The plant has also begun production of the Cruise AV, GM’s self-driving car prototype. In the future, Orion could see big changes with the automaker’s onslaught of electric cars coming.
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Translation from the UAW spokesman, we will fight at Lordstown until GM closes the shop down, and forces this on us.
As they should. GM is making record profits every year lately. There is no reason those workers that have busted their humps through these years to help make GM successful should have to take any pay cuts. If I’m not mistaken Lordstown is already under a different pay scale.
All GM facilities that hired new people in 2008 are under a 2 tier wage system. Traditional employees hired prior to 2008, have the usual pay and benefits structure of the UAW. Tier 2 employees don’t receive pension and have less healthcare benefits as traditional workers. Tier 2 top wage is $28 an hour at full rate. Traditional employees are paid around $30 an hour. These material sub-system employees start at $15 an hour and top out at $19. They will never be able to advance to the higher pay rate. I currently work at Lordstown assembly. We just lost two shifts worth of employees, the UAW agreed in the last contract to implement a clause in the contract to make shops competitive with foreign small car shops. Lordstowns current configuration does not allow for a larger vehicle to built here, without massive monetary investment. The company wants to bring in it’s Material Handling subsidiary to perform some jobs that do not involve building cars. The Lordstown union is trying back out of an agreement they already made, to help GM build small cars profitably at Lordstown. Lordstown local has no leverage at all to fight lower wage jobs entering the shop. We have no new product promises and a current product that has falling sales. GM will very likely close the shop at the end of the current Chevy Cruze model life 2022 or so. Lordstown has a lot more workforce issues I could go into, but this post is already too long.
Gm also implemented this two-tier system at the Lansing Plants back in the late 1990’s . And at that time there was no threat of closing the two facilities . The local unions agreed to this only because it increased employment .
When you have workers on the shop floor doing the same job as someone who is making full rate causes resentment , but the new employees were promised that they would be making the full rate minus full benefits in two years and five years for benefits .
All of the older workers with seniority did not like what the union had agreed to . And all of the new workers still had to pay ” full ” union dues . Like it was stated in the article it ” su%#ed ” ! And insult to injury , some of those people were not used as per the agreement .
The workers were to be used to replace those of us that were on the Product Development Team , but the union let management get away with it .
The Orion Plant needs to keep an eye on GM , if it’s true they are slated to be producing a bulk of the new EV’s and the plant brings in these lower cost workers it’s a win-win for GM . And the union just looks the other way as long as they get the dues money to sit on their @$$e$ .