November 13, 2009

840 jobs in Tennessee may shift to GM Lansing plant

BY TIM HIGGINS

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

General Motors Co. is offering Spring Hill, Tenn., UAW workers 840 jobs in the Lansing area as part of the automaker’s previously announced decision to move production of the Chevrolet Traverse to the Lansing Delta Township plant.

The Spring Hill facility, which has about 3,000 workers, is to end assembly production Nov. 25.

The assembly plant is being idled as part of GM’s sweeping restructuring plan.

GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter said workers were told of the 840 job transfer opportunities Thursday.

In September, GM announced that the company would add shifts at plants in Kansas, Indiana and the Lansing Delta plant, as part of its plan to increase plant utilization in the United States.

"People would relocate from Spring Hill to move into this area," Carpenter said.

UAW Local 1853 President Mike O’Rourke told the Associated Press Thursday that the offer was a "very positive number" and he predicted that 840 workers will move.

"For some folks, it’s going home and for some others, it’s ‘I’ve got to feed my family,’ " he said.