Tennessee parish braces for effects of General Motors cuts

Published: 2005-12-08

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- Members of a Tennessee parish who work for General Motors are wondering how they will be affected by the car company's recent announcement that it plans to eliminate 30,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide. "What's coming? I couldn't begin to tell you," said Bruce Thompson, a quality-care inspector of Saturn Ions at the plant in Spring Hill and a member of St. Catherine Parish in Columbia. As part of GM's restructuring plan, the Ion line of cars will not be produced at the Spring Hill plant after 2006, a move that will affect about 1,500 of the plant's 5,700 employees. Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the restructuring decisions were difficult to make but necessary to get the company's costs in line with its major global competitors. "They are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible," he said.

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