GM <GM> LAYING OFF 850 WORKERS AT TWO PLANTS
General Motors Corp said it will
permanently lay off 850 hourly workers in August at its car
assembly plants in Janesville, Wisc, and Lordstown, Ohio, due
to production cutbacks in the slow-selling cars built at both
facilities.
    GM, the largest U.S. automaker but suffering from lower
sales for months, said 350 of the 3,800 workers at the
Janesville plant would be put on indefinite layoff effective
August 11 as the production rate for 1988-model Cadillac
Cimarrons and Chevrolet Cavalier compact cars is reduced by
five units per hour.
    Another 500 workers of the 5,100 employed at GM's
Lordstown, Ohio, plant will be laid off effective August 24,
the company said.
    GM said it will begin that date its production of
1988-model Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunbirds on two
shifts with a cut of six units an hour from the current rate.
   GM also said it will change its method for reporting
indefinite layoffs to monthly releases from the previous weekly
system "to achieve more complete, accurate and less-confusing
reporting of production-schedule adjustments."
 Reuter
