LORDSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — The Latest on the idling of a GM plant in Ohio (all times local):
1 p.m.
A union leader in Ohio says it’s a gut-wrenching day for auto workers at a General Motors plant where production is being stopped after more than 50 years.
The last Chevrolet Cruze built at GM’s plant near Youngstown is expected to come off the assembly line Wednesday.
GM plans to shut down the plant as well as four others in North America by early next year.
What’s not known is whether the plant in Ohio will ever reopen.
The closings still need to be negotiated with the union, and the 1,700 hourly workers still at the Ohio plant are hoping they’ll get a new vehicle to build.
Union leader Dave Green says he walked through the plant Wednesday and saw workers crying and emotional over their last day.
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7:30 a.m.
General Motors’ sprawling Lordstown assembly plant near Youngstown is about to end production of the Chevrolet Cruze sedan, ending for now more than 50 years of auto manufacturing at the site.
The jobs of nearly 1,700 hourly workers will be eliminated when production ends Wednesday afternoon and a contingent of workers finish making replacement parts like hoods and fenders sometime this month.
United Auto Workers officials remain optimistic that contract negotiations with GM starting this summer will breathe new life into the plant.
GM has said car buyers’ appetite for trucks and SUVs has significantly cut into demand for compact cars like the Cruze, which will continue to be made in Mexico.
Recently promoted company President Mark Reuss said in January that GM is “looking at a lot of different options for the plant,” without giving specifics.
