GM Closes Warren Transmission Plant

At the end of last year, the American auto giant announced the plan to close 5 of its production facilities in the US, and the Michigan facility was one of them. The facility was specialized in production of 6-speed automatic transmissions for the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS.

Under GM’s control the facility had been operating for more than six decades. According to the company’s data, the transmission plant staff consisted of 262 specialists. In an official statement, the GM management expressed its appreciation to all workers who honestly performed their duties and put a great deal of effort to manufacture transmission solutions which meet the highest quality standards.

It is claimed that approximately 1/5 of Warren facility workers have already found new jobs at another GM plant and the company is ready to facilitate the employment of other workers. The company also pointed out that the fate of the closed plant remains unknown, but at the same time it is not ruled out that the plant may have an order for production of a new gearbox in the future. The 6-speed automatic units previously produced on the plant have already become obsolete, as new passenger cars or SUVs are equipped with 8 or 9-speed automatic transmissions or dual-clutch transmissions. GM also may be interested in production of other spare parts at the facility.

Currently, everything depends on the outcome of negotiations the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and GM officials on terms of a new employment agreement. The official negotiations kicked off last week, but experts do not expect the talks to go smoothly, as there are many disagreements between the parties.

UAW President Gary Jones and GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra open contract talks

The principal negotiation points will include job security, working conditions for temporary workers, issues of health care, the amount of profit sharing, and guarantees on keeping existing plants open. The result of these negotiations will have a significant impact not only on production facilities and their workers, but also will certainly affect numerous auto suppliers collaborating with GM. It is expected that parties should come to an agreement by the end of August, as the current contract expires in the middle of September 2019.