Laid-off GM workers to get first shot at new jobs near Lansing

WYOMING, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - 2009 has been a tough year for the auto industry, which has meant tough times for a lot of people in West Michigan who depend on the industry's success to feed their families.

For 70 years, workers cranked out parts for GM cars and trucks in Wyoming, but as the company struggled to survive, it put employees there out of a job. 1,600 GM workers in Wyoming lost their jobs in May of 2008.

Now, there is a possibility of a brighter future for some of those laid-off workers. The GM plant in Delta Township near Lansing needs a lot of help. That plant is where workers assemble the popular GMC Arcadia and Buick Enclave.

The once busy plant at Wyoming's 36^th Street is now a virtual ghost town of empty parking lots. However, Newschannel 3 is learning that there is a glimmer of hope for some of those production workers who lost their jobs at the plant.

GM worker Karl Hamilton says the uncertainty of the plant closing is what's stressing everybody out.

"You always have that hanging over your head, you don't know when you're going to go, or if they're going to ask you and that's pretty difficult for a lot of people," said Hamilton.

Hamilton is referring to numerous production workers recently laid off from the 36^th Street stamping plant, workers who are now likely collecting unemployment and looking for an opportunity.

On Friday, a possible break, Newschannel 3 has confirmed through several sources that GM is adding 100 jobs at the assembly plant in Delta Township near Lansing. Some of the jobs will be filled by workers laid-off from Lansing area facilities, others will come from the facility in Wyoming, many of whom are desperately looking for a chance to get back to work.

"They don't have to move their family, that's the biggest thing, they don't have to uproot, because any time you do, it's a real financial burden on you," said Hamilton.

The plant in Delta Township is running two shifts and building four different vehicles at present, and is ramping up production to meet expected demand.

Because of union regulations, laid-off GM workers will have the first shot at the positions, and it's likely that the company won't be hiring production workers from outside the company.