Nearly 200 workers at General Motors Corp.’s Toledo Powertrain Plant will be laid off indefinitely Monday, three days after the plant ceased making its traditional four-speed, rear-wheel drive transmission.
Production of the four-speed transmission ended yesterday, with workers at the Alexis Road plant having made several commemorative models in recent days to mark the end of an era at the 52-year-old plant, spokesman Wanda Wellman said.
On Monday, 193 workers will go on indefinite layoff while anther 190 workers begin making a new six-speed transmission at the plant. Another 240 workers will enter a “jobs bank” where they get full pay but can be assigned to other duties at the plant or elsewhere. By next week, 415 hourly workers will produce six-speed transmissions with 635 workers placed in the jobs bank, where they will get training to build new products, Ms. Wellman said.
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