The General Motors assembly plant in Shreveport will shut down for six weeks this summer as the financially troubled automaker tries to control inventory in the face of slumping sales. United Auto Workers local president Morgan Johnson says the plant’s 800 workers will be off the job from June 15 through July 27. The company added four weeks to an already-planned two-week summer production shutdown. The plant assembles the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks and the Hummer H3 and H3T pickup truck, all gas-guzzlers which fell out of favor with consumers as fuel prices rose last year. GM has been trying to sell the Hummer brand. GM will temporarily close down 13 plants in the United States and Mexico, some for as long as nine to 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, the New York Times says the Treasury Department is preparing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing from Chrysler that could come as soon as next week. The newspaper says the treasury department has an agreement with the UAW to protect pension and retiree health care benefits as a condition of the bankruptcy. Fiat would also complete its alliance with Chrysler during the bankruptcy.
