GM shifts some former Willow Run workers to Flint plant in expansion
Some workers who were laid off when General Motors closed its Willow Run plant in December will get jobs at the automaker's Flint Assembly plant.
An employee at GM's Willow Run plant staffs one of the facility's last days in December.
Laid-off Flint Assembly plant workers will be hired to fill the jobs first. After that, workers who were laid off from the Willow Run, Warren and Orion plants will be hired, GM said.
It was not immediately clear how many former Willow Run employees would be hired to work the third shift at the Flint Assembly plant, which currently has 2,100 workers. A GM spokeswoman said she did not have any information on how many workers will be affected by the announcement.
GM had nearly 1,400 employees when it announced in June 2009 that it would close the historic 5 million-square-foot Willow Run plant by the end of 2010. When the plant closed Dec. 23, it had about 320 workers.
Some former Willow Run employees have already been transferred to other plants, including the Toledo transmission production facility. Others took buyout offers, and some are still waiting for work.
GM North America President Mark Reuss said in a statement that the surge in production at the Flint Assembly plant was "a response to customer demand for heavy-duty pickups."
The Willow Run plant, which is located in Ypsilanti Township, is now controlled by Motors Liquidation Co., the bankruptcy estate of GM. Motors Liquidation is trying to sell the complex.
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.
Comments
15crown00
Sun, Jan 30, 2011 : 7:10 a.m.
well good glad they got a job
Monica R-W
Tue, Jan 25, 2011 : 5:19 a.m.
My Dad did the oppose commute, from the former HydraMatic Plant from Flint in the 1980's. It can be done and with jobs hard to come by....it would be great to place layoff workers from former PowerTrain plant, there first. Thanks for the story!
Roadman
Mon, Jan 24, 2011 : 11:14 p.m.
This is excellent news. Hopefully the number of workers re-assigned shall be significant. Interesting that the vaunted "Motors Liquidation Company" owns the property. That is the old General Motors Corpoartion whose stock still trades on the "pink-shets" at several pennies with the long-discounted expectancy that the unwanted assets of the old GM will realize more cash when liquidated than the huge debt that the new GM shed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedings.
John of Saline
Mon, Jan 24, 2011 : 7:09 p.m.
That's a long commute, sailor67.
sailor67
Mon, Jan 24, 2011 : 5:20 p.m.
That's great news for many local families. Hopefully, many of those workers will commute from Ypsi and continue to spend their money locally.