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By
the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter
5 January 2017
The World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter has issued the following statement to General Motors workers in the wake of the announcement of mass layoffs by the Detroit-based automaker.
In December, GM announced that it would eliminate a full shift and nearly 1,300 jobs at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. At the same time, GM said it would idle five other plants in January, including the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, from one to three weeks, impacting some 10,000 workers. On top of the shift elimination at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, GM earlier announced that it is suspending the third shift at its Lordstown, Ohio and Lansing River plants, impacting another 2,000 workers.
Nearly half of the workers being cut at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant are temporary workers. Others are contract workers for GM Manufacturing Subsystems who make poverty wages of as little as $12-$13 an hour. GM timed the announcement so that workers hired in April 2016 will not have one year seniority when the job cuts take place in March and therefore will not be eligible for supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB pay).
Ford and Fiat Chrysler have also recently carried out temporary layoffs, including at plants that build Ford’s F-150 pickup truck and the temporary idling by Fiat Chrysler of its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, north of Detroit, for retooling. Fiat Chrysler has stated its intention of stopping production of passenger cars in North America to focus on building more profitable trucks and SUVs.
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The layoffs announced by General Motors last month will have a devastating impact on thousands of workers and their families. Many of these workers quit…