Nearly 15,000 jobs are at stake as General Motors has announced it may be closing as many as five factories.
Plants affected include Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant in Detroit and Warren Transmission Operations in Warren. Other plans closing include the Oshawa Assembly Plant in Oshawa, Ontario, the Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio and the Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland, WXYZ television station reports.
The moves are the first big steps in the century-old GM's transformation. It is closing facilities and reinvesting money away from cars that once dominated roadways and to technology that the company believes will power its future.
"These actions will increase the long-term profit and cash generation potential of the company and improve resilience through the cycle," CEO Mary Barra said.
GM is preparing for the next economic downturn and potential tariffs on auto imports. It will reduce its salaried workforce by 15 percent, including a quarter of the company's executives.
A plant in Canada that is closing will eliminate 2,500 jobs.
The Canada plant set to close as part of the global restructuring is in Oshawa, Ontario, where it has been open since 1953. The private sector union Unifor saidit has been informed there is no product allocated for the plant past December 2019.
The union will meet with GM leaders later today.
The company's plant closures have been expected due to struggling automobile sales.
Layoffs in the United States will affect factory and white-collar workers.
