Lay-offs averted for 1,200 UAW Local 2250 members at Wentzville assembly plant

By SHERI GASSAWAY
Correspondent

General Motors will not be laying-off 1,200 UAW Local 2250 jobs at the Wentzville Assembly plant, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, GM has announced plans to bring workers in from other GM plants to keep production going with all three shifts.

GM had planned to temporarily cut the third shift at the plant in response to worker shortages caused by the pandemic. The news came on the heels of St. Charles County emerging as a new “hot spot” for coronavirus in Missouri.

UAW Local 2250 President Glenn Kage says about 30 workers at the Wentzville plant have tested positive for COVID-19 and others are out on quarantine. GM had planned to implement lay-o s and cut the third shift at the plan starting July 27, he said, but the company came up with a new plan.

‘EXCELLENT NEWS FOR EMPLOYEES’
“It’s excellent news for employees,” Kage said. “Production is not keeping up with demand. We can’t keep our vans in stock, and truck sales are up, too.”

GM’s Wentzville plant makes the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups, and the Chevy Express and GMC Savana full-size vans.

Kage said dislocated workers from other GM plants will transfer to the Wentzville plant to keep the third shift open.

He said workers will be coming from the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, which closed in late February for renovations, and from the Springfield, Tenn. plant, which recently laid off 680 workers and eliminated the facility’s third shift because of the economic impact of the pandemic.

Kage said no timeline had been set for how long the transferred workers will be at the plant.