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August 19, 2009
Stepped-up production requirements have led General Motors to recall 1,350 laidoff U.S. and Canadian workers and make adjustments to its manufacturing facilities, including the Tonawanda engine plant.
At the local plant, a planned temporary idling in September of one of its three production lines, which would have affected 230 production and skilled-trades workers for two weeks, has been cancelled because of the increased production levels.
“All three lines are seeing increases through the remainder of 2009,” spokeswoman Nina Price said.
Though GM is recalling many of its laid-off North American workers, Price said it is still to be determined if any of the 230 hourly workers already on layoff will be brought back soon.
The plant has a 630-member active hourly workforce and 130 salaried workers.
The Detroit automaker said Tuesday it is raising production by about 60,000 vehicles in the third and fourth quarters, in response to the increased sales that accompanied the government’s Cash for Clunkers program.
Another contributor, said Tonawanda plant manager Steve Finch, was the temporary idling of production in June and July at Tonawanda and other GM plants which ranged from five to seven weeks. It succeeded in reducing the amount of outstanding inventory in North America and Finch said, “we are now working to replenish it.”
A GM official said the uptick in vehicle orders is an encouraging sign that sales are turning around.
The “Cash for Clunkers” program, which gives car buyers up to $4,500 for older gas guzzlers if they buy a more efficient new car, caused a spike in sales across the industry during the last week of July.
Ford Motor Co. has also announced increased production for the second half of this year.
GM, which filed for bankruptcy in early June as part of a government-mandated reorganization, emerged from bankruptcy protection last month.
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