Mid-South News
(2009-06-02)
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson speaks at a press conference in New York, Monday, June 1, 2009. General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A spokesman for Gov. Jack Markell says Troy Clarke, GM's head of North American operations, called the governor Sunday night to tell him the Boxwood Road plant in Newport would close.
Markell spokesman Joe Rogalsky read a statement from the governor in which he says "GM has sent many strong signals for the past four years that it was leaning toward closing this plant, but that does not make this news any less unfortunate or soften its impact on the workers and their families." Markell says the state is "ready to help the plant's talented employees learn new skills so they can be competitive in the job market."
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A GM official says the company's White Marsh transmission plant outside Baltimore will benefit from the automaker's latest round of plant closings.
Plant spokesman John Raut said the White Marsh plant would pick up the production of torque converter clutch plates from a Fredericksburg, Va., plant that is being closed. The spokesman said he did not know how many jobs the addition of the line would create.
The Maryland plant has about 250 employees and currently makes six-speed automatic transmissions and gas/electric hybrid transmissions.
GM said Monday it plans to close nine more plants and idle three others to trim production and labor costs.
--- Information from: The Daily Record of Baltimore, http://www.mddailyrecord.com
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Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett says the government-induced shutdown of automobile dealerships is a mistake.
The Maryland Republican plans to join officials of the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association at a car lot Tuesday in Frederick to protest the planned closings that Chrysler and General Motors announced last month.
The event is at the Fitzgerald Auto Mall, owned by a company in danger of losing its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep franchises.
Bartlett says the forced shutdown of dealerships doesn't reduce manufacturer costs but slashes automaker revenues.
© Copyright 2009, wesm
