Lordstown Assembly

[Josenez11]

Hello all, just wondering if anybody has any news on what will be going on at Lordstown Assembly as far as any possability of getting another product, or if they are gonna extend production of the Delta platform. I'm hearing a few rumors but am wondering if anybody else is hearing anything comparable to what I have heard.

Edited September 2, 2007 by Josenez11

[Flybrian]

Welcome to C&G! Wanna share your rumors?

I've heard rumors of the NG Astra coming over to join the next Cobalt on Delta II at Lordstown.

[hyperv6]

The last I heard GM would like to stay and the Union is willing to talk, [but I think you alrwady knew that by your address].

I too have heard Astra looks like a good bet it they get things worked out.

I take it you work there. Work you know the time frame on the Turbo Cobalt SS that is coming?

[Josenez11]

Believe it or not nothing is being said at the plant. No rumors, nothing. Thats why I started this topic, to hopefully get some news that local management or the UAW isnt telling us about a future product. I have not seen for myself but have heard that there are a few SS turbo's sitting somewhere behind the plant. I have heard though that the SS Turbo's will be rolling down the line sooner rather that later.

[pipius]

I have heard two different things from people out there. One is that the plant is closing in mid 2009. The other thing is that they are getting 2 different cars. As I say I do not know what is real and just rumors. The closing is coming from people I know in management the 2 cars is coming from skilled trade people.

[hyperv6]

I have heard two different things from people out there. One is that the plant is closing in mid 2009. The other thing is that they are getting 2 different cars. As I say I do not know what is real and just rumors. The closing is coming from people I know in management the 2 cars is coming from skilled trade people.

It all comes down to terms.

GM is going to make their offer at their terms and If the UAW meet them they will get a new car. If the UAW wants to hard line GM they will close and move production.

GM is doing this else where when contracts and new lines need hammered out. The UAW has little to stand on and if thery want the jobs they need to deal.

[daves87rs]

Well, when GM gets the cuts they want, L-town will get the NG Cobalt, NG Astra, and even another possible small car (this depends on whether another compact gets assigned to either Pontiac or Buick)

If not, then Mexico will be the new car's home.

Sadly, Lordstown is the first take it or break it plant. GM is dead serious on this one...

After L-town, D-ham is the next plant up...

[daves87rs]

It all comes down to terms.

GM is going to make their offer at their terms and If the UAW meet them they will get a new car. If the UAW wants to hard line GM they will close and move production.

GM is doing this else where when contracts and new lines need hammered out. The UAW has little to stand on and if thery want the jobs they need to deal.

It's not a matter of if they will do it-just a matter of when....

From what I have heard already-it looks like the UAW is going to bow down on this one...

GM is already testing Cobalts on the line next to the HHRs....it could happen quite easily...

[daves87rs]

Believe it or not nothing is being said at the plant. No rumors, nothing. Thats why I started this topic, to hopefully get some news that local management or the UAW isnt telling us about a future product. I have not seen for myself but have heard that there are a few SS turbo's sitting somewhere behind the plant. I have heard though that the SS Turbo's will be rolling down the line sooner rather that later.

Yeah, you might not wanna know anyways...

Good news is even with GM's tough stance on the plant-they really would like to keep those cars there....that's why it's not being rubbed in your guys faces...

I'm just surprised that is that quiet...

[Josenez11]

Well as a employee at L-Town Assembly I hope that GM gets what they want, not looking forward to relocation!!

[Oracle of Delphi]

Well as a employee at L-Town Assembly I hope that GM gets what they want, not looking forward to relocation!!

I wouldn't pack my bags just yet! :AH-HA_wink:

[hyperv6]

Well as a employee at L-Town Assembly I hope that GM gets what they want, not looking forward to relocation!!

Even if they relocate the Cobalt you could still get something new. You know the UAW at that plant is willing to talk and do what they need to do. GM knows that too and I think they will come to terms on some platform.

The L town people already know what happened at the Steel mills so they are smart enough to work with GM. Something is better than nothing.

[thegriffon]

Well as a employee at L-Town Assembly I hope that GM gets what they want, not looking forward to relocation!!

Then make that clear to your local representatives.

[Josenez11]

Then make that clear to your local representatives.

Thats already been done.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Where do you work, Body Assembly, Paint, Trim, Chassis, Final Line?

[Josenez11]

Body Assembly, why is that??

[Oracle of Delphi]

Just asking, I wanted to know what type of work you did at Lordstown. Don't read anything into that, that's not there.

[longtooth]

I have heard two different things from people out there. One is that the plant is closing in mid 2009. The other thing is that they are getting 2 different cars. As I say I do not know what is real and just rumors. The closing is coming from people I know in management the 2 cars is coming from skilled trade people.

My Opinion: (some background first) I've worked for GM in 4 different states, 6 different sites, for the past 31 years. I am an hourly employe(e). From what I can gather by watching, listening is that everything is in play right now, but things are more stable than they appear, and as they are presented in the mainstream media. GM's goal is to finally get the "two-tier" wage system this year. Th UAW's aim is to hold on to what they (we) have now. There're roughly only about 90,000 full time hourly folk left. This is out of about a half million or so when I first got my start at a Fisher Body plant way back in the mid '70's. The times, they are a changin'.

I was fortunate to have been hired by the Corporation. My Grandmother, who'd been working at the Fisher plant as a "Rosie the Riveter" type for 25 plus years, repeatedly told me to go to the plant to complete an employement application, as they were hiring. For months I resisted. Finally after filing an application in November of '75, I was soon informed by GM that I had an offer of a job. I was to start on the first Monday of the new year. I was 19 years old. I'd tried my hand at various manual labor type jobs since graduating High School in '74. Jobs that paid reasonably well, with some type of benefits, but none with the allure, the cache' of working for the mighty GM.

Oppurtunities of the likes that I had had, just 30 short (or long depending on the age of the reader) years ago, simply don't exist today. I experienced much jealousy from friends, relatives, acquaintances for having what must've appeared to them as to have snatched the proverbial brass ring. It was all Serendipity. I was in the right place at the right time. I look back on all that I have experienced over the past 4 decades wistfully. I know in my heart, can say to myself that I did put it all out for my job as it was/when it was required. I don't mean to say that there weren't times that I "dogged" it some. That I'd drag my exhausted butt to the tool shed at lunchtime (while I was working 3rd shirt; took me years to figure out what a killer that was) set my alarm on my wristwatch, put it right under my ear and sink into oblivion for 26 minutes. The environment in which I worked allowed for some perks, so long as the desired goals of the managers were achieved. So then, did I get my share.

As it stands today, I wait. Listening to news reports, scouring the internet for some clue, any foreshadowing of what may be in terms of the future of the Company/Union I've served these past many years. I find that I'm less inclined to be anxious now as opposed to the past. Facing my first bout of "contract hysteria" in the early Fall of 1976, remembering it all now...

...just be patient. To put it all into perspective: The will of all multi-national corporations will be served. To save face, to some extent, even the will of the ever-diversifying UAW will be served. GM will maintain an American flavor for some time to come. There'll still be a need for us. (the wrench-wielders/the screw shooters/the metal finishers). But, our ranks are dwindling. People can still be petty, vulgar, wishing behind our backs that we lose it all. Pay them no mind. Try not to epitomize the domestic version of the "ugly American", done GM/UAW style. I still silently rebuke myself whenever I catch myself doing it. Try to honor the best traditions of American Labor Past. Everytime I hear that song by the country superstar group Alabama (the title escapes me now) which goes through a litany of thanks and praise for American workers, it still makes me want to go out and; plow a cornfield, erect a skyscraper, build a ship and so forth. Hoist the Cup, to American Labor. By the Strength of our Hands, The Sweat of our Brows, the Bending of our Backs. Thank You.

[CARBIZ]

You sound like a reasonable man, my friend. Pragmatism is a rarity these days. Personally, I wish GM and Ford could still afford to pay the unionized workers $30-40 an hour. I can't imagine working on an assembly line. I tried stuffing envelopes for a printer for 8 hours a day when I was 15 and quit after 8 days because my brain was oozing out my ear.

However, the grim reality is that as long as Japan Inc. has Detroit in their gunsights and 40 years of Liberal Arts grads are running the show in the media, Ford and GM are going to be in dire straits. They have to cut costs somewhere and face the reality of market shares that are half what they were a mere 15 years ago.

Everyone is feeling the pain. The dealers sure are, I can tell you that.