WARREN, Mich. — The map tells the story of one Detroit suburb’s dependence on the U.S. automotive industry.
At Warren’s heart is General Motors’ 1-square-mile Tech Center. To its south is a GM transmission plant. South of that are two Chrysler facilities.
The facilities and overall industry represent 15 percent of Warren’s roughly $100 million fiscal budget. So Mayor Jim Fouts was on edge Tuesday as GM and Chrysler were preparing to submit restructuring plans to the federal government that were expected to include factory closures.
The plans that were submitted did not specify which factories would close. GM said it would cut 47,000 jobs worldwide and close five more U.S. plants. Chrysler said it plans to cut 3,000 jobs and eliminate three vehicle models.
Communities such as Warren are used to feeling tension these days, with the constant drumbeat of plant shutdowns, closures and blue-collar and white-collar layoffs. But they are steeling themselves for more tough blows from the U.S. auto industry, whose sales are at a 26-year low.
“People are tight right now, hanging in,” Fouts said. “They’re worried about having to pay their bills and whether their home is going be foreclosed. People are frozen in time right now … hoping the (federal) rescue will allow them to be thawed out.”
The same wish comes from a GM employee and union official in Shreveport, La., where an assembly plant employs about 800 workers.
The plant shut down in December in a cost-cutting move, and now workers are waiting to hear if it is in danger of closing for good.
“Whatever happens, we’ll just have to deal with it,” said Morgan Johnson, president of the United Auto Workers Local 2166, who has worked for GM for 28 years. “We’re looking forward to the day the economy improves and people start buying cars. We hope and pray that the policies coming out of Washington will help.”
