General Motors announces the closing of factories in North America, thousands of layoffs and the end of several of its models



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Thousands of workers at automaker General Motors (GM) learned Monday that they would soon lose their jobs.

The American company, one of the largest and oldest of the automotive sector, announced this Monday ] Removal of about 14,000 Jobs in the United States and in Canada

. The restructuring plan also includes the closure of the production in five factories of these two countries.

According to the company, this decision comes after GM cars have recorded lower than expected sales and increased their production costs, notably by introducing new tariffs on materials such as steel.

The announcement this Monday also announced the end of production of several models: Buick LaCross, Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac CT6 and XTS, Chevrolet Impala, as well as versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and Chevrolet Sierra

  Demonstration in Canada

GM employees in Canada protested after learning that their plant would be one of the ones that will be closed.

On the other hand, the production of trucks, electric cars and self-driving cars

"The actions we are taking continue our transformation into a very agile, resilient and profitable business, while offering us the Flexibility to invest in the future "said GM President and CEO Mary Barra.

However, several unions expressed their categorical rejection of the measures.

Vice President of the United Auto Workers in the United States. and Canada, Terry Dittes, said that GM made a "foolish decision" that placed "economic gains relative to working families".

The announcement made this Monday is not mentioned changes to the production of in factories of Mexico City . GM announces however that two plants will be closed outside North America by 2019.

What is restructuring?

GM calculates that this reduction plan will give him a margin. $ 6 billion in savings by the end of 2020, which includes a 15% reduction in the number of salaried employees and 25% of management positions.

Three badembly plants will no longer receive orders in 2019: Canadian from Oshawa, Ontario; and the Americans of Detroit-Hamtramck in Michigan and Warren in Ohio.

In addition, the White Marsh Mills in Maryland and Warren in Michigan will also stop producing for GM.

GM currently employs about . in this region which means that the cuts will affect more than 8,000 employees, in addition to factory contractors.

In February, the company announced that it would close a plant in Gunsan, South Korea. It also offered voluntary redundancies to some 18,000 workers in October.

What is the answer?

The announcement of this Monday prompted the rejection of workers and authorities

Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau said on Twitter:

"GM workers have been part of the heart and soul of Oshawa for generations and we will do everything in our power to help families affected by this information and get them back on track. I spoke to Mary Barra to express my deep disappointment at the closure. "

In the United States, Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat representing Ohio called the decision of the company. as "corporate greed".

"Ohio taxpayers have saved GM and it is shameful that the company is now leaving the Mahoning Valley and firing workers just before the holidays," he wrote on Twitter.

Unions in the United States and Canada also warned that they would put pressure on the company so that it would badign more work to factories instead of shutting them down.

In Canada, union Unifor Local 222 said to its members: "To be clear, Unifor does not accept the closure of the plant is an inevitable conclusion."

"Do not forget that our factory was already in this situation before, with no products involved and that we were able to conduct a successful campaign to continue its activities," he said.

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