GM Bites Bullet and Opts to Close 9 Plants and Cut 30,000 Jobs before 2009
As part of a cost cutting plan designed to turn General Motors around financially
, the impact on some 30,000 individuals and their families will be devastating when the automaker shuts down nine plants over the next four years and reduces the workforce dramatically at others.
Today's announcement from DaimlerChrysler Canada, on the other hand, where it promises to invest a total of $768 million (649 million USD) in its Canadian facilities, almost appears opportunistic this close to that country's federal election campaign, but news that the automaker, riding high in profits due to an exciting product lineup that has its Brampton, Ontario plant working around the clock to keep up with demand, may be music to the ears of Canadian GM workers expecting to be laid off from the Oshawa and St. Catherines operations, which include three plants affected by the bad news.
Currently
DaimlerChrysler Canada directly employs approximately 12,000 workers, not including the thousands of employees working within its 475 strong Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealer network. And it only makes sense that along with the new investment it will be on the lookout for skilled workers for its new Windsor Assembly Plant paint facility, scheduled to be operational by 2007, and most likely needing trained employees for upgrades to its Windsor and Brampton Assembly Plants, which will switching to enhanced flexible manufacturing processes in order to respond to fluctuating market demand by building multiple vehicle models and model variants on the same assembly line. DaimlerChrysler is also investing more into its University of Windsor/DaimlerChrysler Canada Automotive Research and Development Center.
As part of a cost cutting plan designed to turn General Motors around financially
 |
| The Doraville, Georgia minivan plant, which builds the Chevy Uplander, Buick Terraza, Pontiac Montana SV6 and Saturn Relay, will be closed for good in 2008. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press) |
Today's announcement from DaimlerChrysler Canada, on the other hand, where it promises to invest a total of $768 million (649 million USD) in its Canadian facilities, almost appears opportunistic this close to that country's federal election campaign, but news that the automaker, riding high in profits due to an exciting product lineup that has its Brampton, Ontario plant working around the clock to keep up with demand, may be music to the ears of Canadian GM workers expecting to be laid off from the Oshawa and St. Catherines operations, which include three plants affected by the bad news.
Currently
 |
| The Oshawa, Ontario plant that builds the Buick LaCrosee (Allure in Canada) will be closing in 2008, giving a skilled workforce to other expanding automakers such as DaimlerChrysler. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press) |