DETROIT, Mich.—General Motors announced Dec. 14 that it will offer 2,700 new jobs to the 3,300 workers scheduled to be laid off when it closes four U.S. plants next year—but most would have to move to get them.
About 1,000 of the added jobs will be at a pickup-truck plant in Flint, Michigan, with most of the rest in Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Lansing, Michigan. At the Lordstown plant in Ohio, United Auto Workers Local 1112 told members Dec. 13 that there were 200 openings at a plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee; 35 in Flint, and 70 in Toledo, Ohio. Workers who want one have to apply by Dec. 21, and can expect to hear back by Jan. 2, the message said. Tommy Wolikow, 36, who was laid off from Lordstown in January 2017, told the Washington Post he would be interested in the Toledo and Spring Hill openings—but “the last thing I want to do is uproot my family and leave my parents.” Local 1112 President Dave Green said he still hoped the factory could be kept open by being used to build a new vehicle.
