New York (CNN Business) General Motors is ending production at its Lordstown, Ohio plant Wednesday — two days earlier than previously expected.

GM GM spokesperson said that's when the plant will churn out its last Chevy Cruze sedan. At that point, the factory will be unallocated, which means no vehicles will be assigned to that facility.

GM planned to idle the 6.2 million-square-foot plant on Friday, but the spokesperson said production was slightly ahead of schedule.

The automaker announced a major restructuring in November, including the closure of four US plants and another in Canada. It said it would cut 8,000 US salaried and contract jobs, representing a 15% reduction in its workforce.

The Lordstown plant is the first of the four US plants GM is closing. It had 1,435 hourly workers last year at the time of the plant closing announcement.

Read More</s>The United Auto Workers has sued General Motors from closing three plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland, claiming the union's current contract forbids the company from idling them, according to the suit filed Tuesday.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — The United Auto Workers has sued General Motors from closing three plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland, claiming the union’s current contract forbids the company from idling them, according to the suit filed Tuesday.

GM announced plans in November to end production at U.S. plants in Lordstown, Ohio; White Marsh, Maryland; Warren, Michigan; and Hamtramck, Michigan. GM announced this week that production at the Hamtramck plant, which borders Detroit, would continue until January, after the UAW contract expires. The plant was not included in the lawsuit.

The UAW’s lawsuit includes a September 2015 letter from GM Vice President Catherine Clegg that says her correspondence “confirms” the company won’t close, idle, sell off or consolidate plants during the union contract, which expires in September.

GM said in a statement Tuesday that the company’s announcement last year about the closings doesn’t violate the UAW contract.

“We continue to work with the UAW on solutions to our business challenges,” the statement said.

Workers at Lordstown and the other plants are hoping the union will be able to negotiate to keep their factories open after the contract talks formally open this summer. Lordstown, which is expected to be idled in early June, has drawn support from President Donald Trump, who has campaigned on saving industrial jobs in Ohio, a key state in his 2020 re-election bid.

Lordstown has around 1,400 hourly workers who help assemble the Cruze subcompact sedan. The Maryland plant manufactures electric motors and drive trains and employs 250 workers. The Warren plant has 265 workers who make transmissions.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>LORDSTOWN ASSEMBLY Vehicles produced through the years at the General Motors Lordstown facility since 1966:

By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.</s>WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - General Motors (GM) will end production at its Lordstown, Ohio plant Wednesday - two days earlier than previously expected.



A GM spokesperson reportedly said that's when the plant will churn out its last Chevy Cruze sedan. At that point, the factory will be unallocated, which means no vehicles will be assigned to that facility.



GM planned to idle the 6.2 million-square-foot plant on Friday, but the spokesperson reportedly said production was slightly ahead of schedule.



The automaker announced a major restructuring in November, including the closure of five plants in North America and the reduction of its salaried workforce by 15%. GM laid off 8,000 salaried workers, and 6,000 hourly workers will either lose their jobs or be reassigned to other plants.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX</s>General Motors expects to end production of the Chevrolet Cruze at its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant on Wednesday, the first of five plants it is idling this year in North America.

A GM spokesman said the company is "ahead of the production schedule" and added that production had been scheduled to end Friday, "but now it looks like it will finish up Cruze production on Wednesday."

Last week, the UAW sued GM over its decision to end production and eliminate thousands of jobs U.S. auto plants, saying it violated a 2015 collective bargaining agreement.

The UAW has asked a federal judge to order GM to rescind its November decision to close three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Maryland, and award damages to employees for losses from what the UAW calls GM's breach of contract.

GM said last week that its decisions to halt production "do not violate the provisions of the UAW-GM National Agreement. We continue to work with the UAW on solutions to our business challenges."

GM said in November it was cutting up to 15,000 jobs and ending production at five plants in North America, including one in Canada. Last month, GM said it extended production at its Detroit Hamtramck plant until January 2020, after earlier saying it planned to discontinue production in June.

The job cuts have angered President Donald Trump, who has demanded GM find a replacement product for its Lordstown plant and threatened to cut GM subsidies.

The UAW said GM will end production at its White Marsh plant in Maryland on May 3 and at its Warren Transmission plant in Michigan on Aug. 1. GM's Oshawa assembly plant in Canada's Ontario province is set to end production by the end of the year.</s>General Motors is ending production at its Lordstown, Ohio plant Wednesday — two days earlier than previously expected.

A GM spokesperson said that's when the plant will churn out its last Chevy Cruze sedan. At that point, the factory will be unallocated, which means no vehicles will be assigned to that facility.

GM planned to idle the 6.2 million-square-foot plant on Friday, but the spokesperson said production was slightly ahead of schedule.

The automaker announced a major restructuring in November, including the closure of four US plants and another in Canada. It said it would cut 8,000 US salaried and contract jobs, representing a 15% reduction in its workforce.

The Lordstown plant is the first of the four US plants GM is closing. It had 1,435 hourly workers last year at the time of the plant closing announcement.

GM said that 417 of those workers have already accepted transfers to other plants, and another 80 have requested transfers and are waiting to see the jobs available to them. Workers who move will get up to $30,000 in transfer assistance from the company.

A plant in Baltimore is set to close next month. Another in Warren, Michigan, is due to shut in August. Those two transmission plants have about 500 employees between them, and 50 workers have accepted transfers. The Hamtramck plant, the last factory GM operates in Detroit, was originally due to close later this year but will now stay open until January 2020. It has 1,350 hourly workers, about 600 of whom have accepted transfers.

In total, more than 1,000 of the 3,300 US hourly workers whose plants are being closed have accepted transfers to other plants.

The decision to close the four US plants has led to blowback across the political spectrum. But General Motors says it's necessary so the company can invest more money in the cars of the future.

Last week, the United Auto Workers union sued General Motors over its plans to shutter three of the plants, including Lordstown. The union claims that the decision violates the union's labor contract.

It's asking the court to order GM to reverse the closures. It's also seeking damages for affected employees, including back wages and benefits.

GM said in a statement last week that the company has not violated the provisions of its labor contract with the union.</s>General Motors closed down its Lordstown, Ohio manufacturing facility, with the plant’s last Chevy Cruze rolling off the assembly line Wednesday afternoon, after 52 years of auto production.

GM is shuttering the Lordstown plant as part of a restructuring effort by CEO Mary Barra to improve the company’s financial position. The company is eliminating 1,700 hourly jobs at the facility, one of five auto-manufacturing plants that it is planning to shut down by early 2020.

Last year, Barra announced a restructuring plan that would mean the loss of as many as 14,000 workers to help the company focus on making trucks, SUVs and electric vehicles. The Lordstown plant produced Chevy Cruze sedans, which have been in less demand among consumers.

Barra’s restructuring plan has drawn criticism from the United Autoworker Union as well as President Trump. She also met with members of Congress in December to defend her plan to orient GM toward a changing market for automobiles.

According to the Associated Press, the mood inside the Lordstown plant was somber Wednesday as workers took photos of the last Cruze manufactured at the facility, which has made the Chevy sedan since 2011. GM plans to discontinue sales of the Cruze in the United States.

“It’s frustrating,” Jeff Nance, an employee at Lordstown for 17 years, told the AP. “I’m angry and bitter. Watching that last car go by was a kick in the gut.”

GM’s stock closed down 61 cents a share, or 1.6%, at $38.67 a share Wednesday.</s>General Motors Co said the last Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the assembly line Wednesday afternoon at its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant, the first of five plants in North America to end production this year and ending U.S. production of the Cruze.

REUTERS: General Motors Co said the last Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the assembly line Wednesday afternoon at its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant, the first of five plants in North America to end production this year and ending U.S. production of the Cruze.

Workers posted photos of the final Cruze making its way down the assembly line on social media. It came off the line around 3 p.m., a GM spokesman said.

The Cruze "was a good product and was built with tremendous pride by the Lordstown employees. We know this is an emotional day for our Lordstown team," GM said in a statement.

The Lordstown plant is being idled, resulting in the loss of 1,500 jobs. Since 2017, GM cut two of the three production shifts, eliminating 3,000 jobs amid sagging demand for small cars. GM is continuing to produce the Cruze in Mexico for other markets, but not for the United States.

GM noted that over 400 Lordstown employees have accepted offers at other GM locations, and it reiterated that jobs are available at other assembly plants for anyone willing to relocate to other states.

The United Auto Workers union, which has filed suit challenging GM's decision to end Cruze production at Lordstown, said it "will leave no stone unturned in keeping the Lordstown plant open."

GM's chief executive, Mary Barra, has said the final fate of the plant and whether it will reopen will be decided this summer in contract talks with the UAW.

The 6.3-million-square foot Lordstown assembly complex has manufactured more than 16 million vehicles since it opened in 1966, including nearly 2 million Chevrolet Cruze cars since 2010.

In November, GM announced it would idle five North American plants, including Lordstown, and cut up to 15,000 jobs.

GM also disclosed on Tuesday in a notice to the state of Ohio it would cut 101 jobs at the West Chester, Ohio, service and parts warehouse and operations facility that is closing.

The automaker told employees of the plans in June 2018 to close the facility and shift the work to a new warehouse in Burton, Michigan. Ohio workers can move to Michigan if they choose, GM said.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio called Wednesday "a heartbreaking day. ... These workers are the heart and soul of GM."

Separately, the UAW and the Communication Workers of America union sent a letter this week to the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee asking it to investigate significant corporate tax cuts received by GM and AT&T Inc even as they cut thousands of union jobs.

The letter said there is "no evidence to date that the corporate tax cuts have encouraged GM to bring back any production from Mexico to the U.S."

GM and AT&T did not immediately comment on the letter.</s>LORDSTOWN, Ohio — The Latest on the idling of a GM plant in Ohio (all times local):

Ohio’s two U.S. senators say they’ll continue to push General Motors to keep open its assembly plant where production is being stopped, at least temporarily.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown says he thinks the plant near Youngstown can be retooled to make electric cars.

Production is ending Wednesday at the plant in Lordstown as the last Chevrolet Cruze is expected to come off the assembly line.

GM says it’s looking at other options for the plant that employed 4,500 people just two years ago, but the automaker isn’t making any promises that it will reopen.

Ohio Republican Rob Portman says he’ll press GM to bring one of its new electric vehicles to the plant. He says the workers who’ve given so much to the company deserve it.

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.

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.</s>General Motors is expected to start a new round of...
Production ends at General Motors' Lordstown Assembly complex in Lordstown, Ohio, United States.