General Motors plans to cut about 1,300 workers in two of Michigan’s plants, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.
The layoffs, scheduled for next year, will affect GM’s Lansing Grand River and Orion Assembly plants, with Lansing losing 339 workers and Orion dropping 945.
Both plants were important production centers for GM’s electric vehicle initiatives that are on hold. The Orion plant was responsible for the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV. Lansing had planned to make the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV.
The laid-off workers won’t be entirely out of luck. Under the conditions of the newly ratified United Auto Workers contract, they will have opportunities in other Michigan plants, specifically Factory Zero near Detroit.
Other automakers are scaling back their EV goals as well. Ford recently cut about 700 workers who manufacture the F-150 Lightning.
While GM hasn’t offered a direct reason for the layoffs, slumping sales of EVs and the mounting cost of the new UAW contract could be two related causes.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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