General Motors announced yesterday at its annual meeting that it will be shuttering the doors of its Moraine, Ohio plant, but union workers at that plant don’t plan to just go away quietly. Although plant workers say the news wasn’t shocking, they still plan on fighting the closure.
“We anticipate having additional meetings, sitting down and talking about contractual issues, meeting with the international union to see where we go from here and what can be done,” Gaylen Turner, president of IUE-CWA Local 798, told Automotive News. Local 798 represents about 2,300 workers at the Moraine plant — which produces the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7X.
However, there is little hope GM will keep the Moraine facility open as the bottom has dropped out on the truck and SUV markets. Along with the closure of the Moraine plant, GM also announced the closure of three other truck and SUV plants.
As of Monday, over 300 workers at the Moraine plant have already taken “special attrition packages.”
The Moraine plant lacked any future product plans beyond 2010, and it is likely GM will permanently close its doors in 2009 or 2010.
