General Motors on Monday said it would add a third shift at its Flint assembly plant in Michigan, returning 750 jobs to the factory that makes the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups.
Flint, widely regarded as the birthplace of General Motors, was decimated in the 1980s and 90s as the automaker gradually closed multiple plants in the city, including the famed ‘Buick City’ (GM’s gradual retrenchment was partly chronicled by the Michael Moore film Roger and Me). Much of the land once occupied by the plants remains undeveloped and the restored jobs will be much welcomed locally.
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The new shift is expected to start in the third quarter with employees first clocking on at the Flint Assembly factory in the second quarter.
“Adding a third shift is a response to customer demand for heavy-duty pickups, which most people use to tow, haul and plough,” said GM North America president Mark Reuss.
“Equally importantly, it brings jobs and a needed economic boost to the Flint area.”
Flint Assembly currently employs around 2,100 hourly and salaried employees and operates two shifts.
In 2010 the plant produced 115,000 trucks, the majority of them regular and crew-cab versions of the heavy duty Silverado and Sierra. Last year, the plant added production of regular and crew cab versions of the light duty Silverado.
The Silverado HD recently was named the 2011 Motor Trend Truck of the Year.
UAW Local [branch] 598 chairman Dana Rouse noted: “Adding the third shift allows us to call back some former Flint Assembly workers and provide employment for others who have been laid off.”
GM said initial openings will be filled by recalled laid off Flint Assembly employees currently working at other facilities, primarily in Lansing, also in Michigan. Remaining openings will be filled by laid-off employees in the area, including those from Orion, Willow Run and Warren in accordance with the UAW GM national agreement. No new employees are expected to be hired, however.
Since opening in 1947, Flint Assembly has built over 13m vehicles, including such well known Chevrolet models as the Corvette sportscar, Bel Air, Monte Carlo coupe and Suburban large SUV.
Although it closed those multiple sites in the last two decades, GM has nonetheless retained five manufacturing sites in the Flint area. As well as Flint Assembly, there are Engine Operations, Metal Center, Tool & Die and the Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center. GM’s Customer Care and Aftersales is also headquartered in Grand Blanc and operates warehouse and distribution centers in Flint. GM currently employs over 6,000 people in the Flint area, though this is well down on the 1978 high of 80,000.
