GM Cutting 932 Jobs at Two Southern Ontario, Canada, Plants

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario AP reports that General Motors Corp. is eliminating 932 jobs at two Canadian plants near Niagara Falls, the car manufacturer confirmed Tuesday.

The layoffs are due to the phasing out of production of small-block V-8 engines at one plant and scaling back on a variety of components at the other, the company said. Both plants are in St. Catharines.

The engine plant employs 1,700 people, while the components operation has about 2,000 workers, said GM Canada spokesman Stew Low. It was not immediately known how many layoffs would come from each plant.

The job cuts take effect after June 17, and Low noted that GM Canada previously announced it intended to reduce production and eliminate positions at the St. Catharines plants.

He said vacation replacement, retirement incentives and other alternatives mean the number actually laid off will likely be less than 932.

``It's components that we manufacture that are being phased out of production at both plants,'' Low said. ``It's regrettable we've had to issue the layoff notices, and that we don't have replacement business for the products that we're losing.''

Besides General Motors, Ford is cutting 1,500 jobs and planning to close its truck assembly plant in Oakville, east of St. Catharines, and DaimlerChrysler announced last year that 3,300 Canadian workers will be out of work following the elimination of 26,000 jobs worldwide.