GM Identifies Plants in First Round of Attrition Program

General Motors Corp.’s metalcasting plant at Massena, NY, is one of the plants identified by the automaker in a recent statement outlining an agreement with the United Auto Workers union on the first phase of a comprehensive, special attrition program. According to GM, it will offer employees at the targeted locations a combination of early retirement incentives and other considerations, similar to the special attrition program that GM, the UAW, and Delphi Corp. implemented in 2006. Specific details of the first phase will be announced later this month to workers at the targeted plants. The first phase of the attrition program will be offered to all UAW-represented hourly employees at GM’s Service Parts and Operations (SPO) plants. The offer also is being extended to hourly employees at GM’s Pittsburgh metal stamping plant and to hourly employees currently assigned to JOBS Banks in Oklahoma City, Linden, NJ, and Rancho Cucamonga, CA, as well as the Massena casting plant. Details of the attrition program for UAW-represented hourly employees at other GM operations (assembly, stamping, powertrain, and engineering) will be released soon, according to the automaker. The attrition program was agreed to by GM and the UAW in the national labor contract reached last summer, and the agreement announced recently is one of the steps established toward implementing it. Earlier reports indicated GM plans to close the Massena casting operation by the end of 2008, because of product design and technology changes. The Massena plant produces aluminum engine blocks and cylinder heads using the lost-foam process. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner stated: “We continue to work closely with our UAW partners to improve our competitiveness in the currently challenging U.S. market conditions, while also investing in future products and technologies critical to support our leadership in fuel economy. This first phase of a comprehensive attrition program, designed in conformance with the 2007 UAW national labor agreement, provides our employees with attractive options to consider.”