GM to cut 1 shift each at 4 factories
DETROIT (AP) - April 28, 2008 The world's largest automaker said the cuts are due to sagging
sales, brought on by high gasoline prices and an economic downturn.
GM said the cuts will affect pickup factories in Pontiac and
Flint, Mich., and Oshawa, Ontario, as well as the full-size SUV
plant in Janesville, Wis.
The company said the cuts mean it will make about 88,000 fewer
pickups and 50,000 fewer big SUVs this calendar year.
GM said the exact number of layoffs will be worked out with its
unions. Workers will get unemployment benefits and supplemental pay
that total 80 percent of their normal 40-hour gross pay, said GM
spokesman Dan Flores.
"With rising fuel prices, a softening economy and a downward
trend on current and future market demand for full-sized trucks, a
significant adjustment was needed to align our production with
market realities," GM North America President Troy Clarke said in
a statement.
For about the past three years, the U.S. auto market has been
shifting away from pickup trucks and SUVs to cars and crossover
vehicles, but the trend accelerated in recent months due to gas
prices that have reached $3.60 per gallon, on average.
