GM Lordstown to lay off more than 1,000

LORDSTOWN -- The General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown will layoff between 1,000 and 1,100 hourly workers, along with an undisclosed number of salaried employees.

The layoffs will take effect on January 20, 2009 according to Ray Young, GM's Chief Financial Officer, who made the announcement during a conference call Friday afternoon.

GM today reported a loss of $2.5 billion in the third quarter and warned it may run out of cash in 2009. The Lordstown cuts will include employees of the Assembly Plant and the adjacent metal fabricating plant.

Jim Graham, President of UAW Local 1112 said the recently added third shift will not be eliminated as part of the layoffs. "They are delaying the line," said Graham, "instead of running 62 (vehicles) an hour, we're going to run 46 and a half an hour. And there's still going to be three shifts, a three shift operation."

General Motors says it burned through nearly $7 billion dollar in cash during the previous quarter, and at that rate would have enough cash left for only another seven months.

The Lordtown complex currently has about 5,000 hourly and salaried workers, including 1,400 who were brought in during August when that new third shift was added.

It's league night at Wedgewood Bowling Lanes.

31 year GM Lordstown employee Rick Holloway has more on his mind then a seven ten split.

"It's going to make it a little tight for christmas. We're going to have one but it won't be as elaborate as I had hoped for," Holloway said.

This summer Holloway saw a silver lining in this stormy economy after Lordstown GM announced it would be making the new Chevy Cruse and adding a third shift.

Hollowly and his co-workers try to stay optimistic

"By July of next year things might have completely flipped and we'll be back in the black," Holloway mused.

Holloway trudged through a 15 month layoff early on in his career but the company

"You just keep up hope trust in God and you know he will provide," Holloway said.