More Than 1,100 Michigan Auto Workers Laid Off at EV Plant

This is a terrible way to kick off the new year for Michigan’s auto workers.

Back in October, we told you GM was planning for some big layoffs. Now, that moment has arrived.

According to Fox 2 Detroit, General Motors has made permanent layoffs at its Factory Zero plant in Hamtramck, cutting more than 1,100 hourly jobs. These jobs are gone, and production is being scaled way back to essentially one shift.

Factory Zero has been sold as the future. Now, that future isn’t looking all that promising, even though it’s the flagship EV plant where vehicles like the GMC Hummer EV and Chevy Silverado EV are built.

UAW Local 22 says the hit was massive. About half of the local’s membership disappeared with these layoffs, mostly assembly jobs, plus losses in quality and materials.

GM says this all comes down to slower demand for electric vehicles. In other words, EV sales aren’t where they thought they’d be, and workers are the ones paying for it.

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What makes this worse is the timing. Just over two years ago, EV jobs were sold as safe, long-term work after that historic strike. Now, a lot of those same workers are sitting at home, hoping something opens up elsewhere in the company.

Future-focused jobs were supposed to mean security. Right now, it doesn’t feel that way at all for these auto workers.

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