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GM to add 200 employees to Fairfax plant on Chevrolet Malibu demand
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - General Motors Corp. will add 200 more production employees and start operating the assembly line on Saturdays at its Fairfax plant because of demand for the Chevrolet Malibu.
The auto company is hiring new employees that would boost the hourly work force at Fairfax to nearly 3,000, said Sharon Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the plant.
GM has been operating its two daily shifts on a nine-hour overtime schedule since December.
This Saturday's production will start two full shifts that will work on several Saturdays through the end of the year. The plant's line speed also has been increased since the new version of the Malibu was launched last fall.
"Right now, the demand for the Malibu is very strong," Baldwin said. "Dealers are asking for every car we can build, which is a fantastic problem to have."
Saturday shifts have been rare for the plant. Baldwin said there were some Saturday shifts three years ago, but they were not scheduled regularly.
Most of the additional employees will transfer from Delphi Corp.'s Olathe plant, said Dave Peterson, of United Auto Workers Local 31. However, some of the workers will be new hires.
Peterson said other furloughed workers are transferring from Lansing, Mich. Local 31 officials last year said the Fairfax plant could add a third shift because of the increased Malibu production, but GM has not made that move.
"We can meet the demand right now with overtime and Saturday production," Baldwin said. "Certainly, this is a short-term strategy, but market demand in the future will determine whether we go to a third shift."
Full Article Here
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Malibu Gallery
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - General Motors Corp. will add 200 more production employees and start operating the assembly line on Saturdays at its Fairfax plant because of demand for the Chevrolet Malibu.
The auto company is hiring new employees that would boost the hourly work force at Fairfax to nearly 3,000, said Sharon Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the plant.
GM has been operating its two daily shifts on a nine-hour overtime schedule since December.
This Saturday's production will start two full shifts that will work on several Saturdays through the end of the year. The plant's line speed also has been increased since the new version of the Malibu was launched last fall.
"Right now, the demand for the Malibu is very strong," Baldwin said. "Dealers are asking for every car we can build, which is a fantastic problem to have."
Saturday shifts have been rare for the plant. Baldwin said there were some Saturday shifts three years ago, but they were not scheduled regularly.
Most of the additional employees will transfer from Delphi Corp.'s Olathe plant, said Dave Peterson, of United Auto Workers Local 31. However, some of the workers will be new hires.
Peterson said other furloughed workers are transferring from Lansing, Mich. Local 31 officials last year said the Fairfax plant could add a third shift because of the increased Malibu production, but GM has not made that move.
"We can meet the demand right now with overtime and Saturday production," Baldwin said. "Certainly, this is a short-term strategy, but market demand in the future will determine whether we go to a third shift."
Full Article Here
Malibu Gallery
If I can't access the site and it needs some kind of registration, I won't copy the article (I'm too lazy to sign up for that stuff too, and I don't like giving my e-mail out to all of those sites).
