Chrysler: Sterling Heights plant stays open
Chrysler’s plan to keep a Sterling Heights assembly plant open and add nearly 900 jobs is more than a shot in the arm to workers who would fill the spots.
It’s a sign the company is making a resurgence — something auto industry insiders said could boost confidence and lead to more work for suppliers.
For Phil Leonard, plant manager at Punch Tech in Marysville, Chrysler’s announcement Friday means one more thing: The government’s auto-industry bailout was the right move.
Without it, “we wouldn’t be here,” he said.
The company does third-tier business with Chrysler, making parts that other companies use for stamping auto parts. Although Leonard described the past several months as a “roller coaster” when it comes to demand, the current economic situation is the best things have been since the “bottom dropped out” in 2000.
For the first time in two years, Punch Tech is running overtime shifts, he said.
News about the Sterling Heights plant overshadowed President Barack Obama’s visit to the Jefferson North plant in Detroit, where he talked about the success of the auto bailout.
The jobs in Sterling Heights would staff a second shift at the plant beginning the first quarter of 2011, officials said. It would bring the number of workers up to about 2,000.
The factory, which had been slated for closure in 2012, makes the slow-selling Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring midsize sedans. Chrysler plans to start selling new, updated versions of the cars in the fall. The plant also would get the next-generation Chrysler midsize car that is to be on a new undercarriage, chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne said.
Companies that make parts for the Sebring and Avenger, and the Sebring convertible — which also is built at the plant — are expected to add 500 jobs.
Marchionne said the additional jobs at Sterling Heights would be filled with a combination of laid-off workers from other factories and new hires. He said he did not know how many jobs would be created but said some of the new hires would make about $14 an hour, about half the pay of older workers.
Workers from factories that Chrysler is closing in Twinsburg, Ohio, near Cleveland; Kenosha, Wis., near Milwaukee; and in Detroit will be offered jobs in Sterling Heights, Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said.
The number of new hires depends on how many of the workers from the closing plants decide to move or retire, she said.
Ron Scott Jr., president of United Auto Workers 375 in Marysville, said there is no doubt Chrysler is turning things around.
The company has been hiring people “off the street down in Detroit” to fill shifts, he said, adding that the situation also is looking good for GM and Ford.
“(Chrysler’s) relieved a lot of debt,” said Scott, who represents local workers at Chrysler’s Mopar parts depot, Black River Manufacturing, Caravan Knight and Mapal. “With labor contracts in place and creditors all bought out, I think the company has downsized to the size it needs to be to start over.”
http://www.thetimesherald.com/
Related Websites - How to Create a Simple Web Site with the Gimp While Adobe Photoshop continues to be an industry leader in graphic design, another image editor is a great, free alternative. The GIMP allows you to do just as much as Photoshop when used correctly,...
- Fishing Report: August 29, 2009 Although fishing has been light in many places throughout this past week, it's not stopping the die-hards from going after their chosen catch. Lake Fishing - In Amador, the weather has been relatively warm and...
- Advice for a Recent Graduate Looking for a Job First off, let me congratulate you for graduating! Welcome to the “real world.” The infamous real world… one that is really living up to its infamy right now. As projections for college hiring show that...
- Use Twitter to Find a Job The Twitter craze is real… that’s for sure. Companies are hiring people to be there Twitter liaisons' (example: Pizza Hut, or “The Hut”). Social media director positions are being posted that list having at least...
