GM furloughs workers at Marion plant
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers is once again having an effect on Indiana workers. General Motors confirmed to IIB on Monday that it has furloughed 35 employees at its Marion Metal Center.
GM is also furloughing 130 workers at its Parma Metal Center near Cleveland, Ohio.
In an email to Inside INdiana Business, GM said the union leadership’s decision to strike at the GM Wentzville Assembly in Missouri and the GM Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Michigan continues to have negative ripple effects.
The automaker said worked to reduce the negative effects by temporarily shifting the affected employees to other areas, but the impact of the strike became too great.
“Beginning Monday, October 2nd, a portion of GM’s Parma Metal Center and Marion Metal Center represented workforce will have no work available,” the statement said. “The affected team members are not expected to return until the strike has been resolved. Since we are working under an expired labor agreement, there are no provisions for company-provided SUB-pay in this circumstance. We have said repeatedly that nobody wins in a strike, and this is yet another demonstration of that fact. We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
The UAW Local 977 declined to provide comment.
The Marion Metal Center employs more than 700 workers, according to GM’s website. The facility, established in 1956, produces sheet metal stamped parts and blanks that are sent to GM assembly plants throughout North America.
The furloughs come just over a year after GM announced it would invest $491 million to expand and upgrade operations at the Marion Metal Center to support electric vehicle production.
Last month, Stellantis announced it was laying off 300 workers at two facilities in Kokomo. The automaker employs about 7,000 people at its four plants in Kokomo and Tipton.
Our partners at WPTA-TV reported last Friday that about 240 people have been temporarily laid off at Dana Inc. in Fort Wayne, which makes axles and other parts for the Big Three automakers. A spokesperson for the company said the layoffs were directly related to the strike.
GM also has facilities in Bedford, Kokomo, and Roanoke, but those facilities have not yet been affected by the strike.