GM ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS IN DEFIANCE

Gen­eral Motors Defi­ance based Cast­ing Oper­a­tions says it plans to lay off 135 work­ers begin­ning at the end of Sep­tem­ber. The announce­ment, made Thurs­day by GM, says the lay­offs will be phased and will affect 48 tem­po­rary employ­ees, 55 pro­duc­tion employ­ees, and 32 skilled trades employ­ees… all hourly.

GM says the lay­offs are due to newer engines going from cast iron to alu­minum.

The Defi­ance plant also does some alu­minum cast­ing, but GM says there are no plans in the imme­di­ate future to switch out an iron-casting line with an alu­minum line at the plant.

GM says the lay­offs will not impact the new truck line at the plant. The V8 and V6 truck engine lines are up. The light-duty truck using the engines is already on the mar­ket, while the heavy-duty truck will be out later this year.