The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Spring Hill Disaster

Nov 28, 2011

When GM held a press conference to publicize its Spring Hill Assembly Plant reopening, a Tennessee legislator pointed out that GM was making a “scaled-back announcement from what we originally had been told.”

Families of laid off workers view promised jobs as a cruel joke. About 2000 Spring Hill workers lost their jobs in November 2009 when the Saturn brand was eliminated. Workers who took relocation money to accept jobs at other GM plants in places like Michigan and Kansas are NOW being told they are not eligible to come back to their home plant. GM wants to hire only tier two employees at Spring Hill, earning half wages.

The wife of one worker, who is stuck at an out-of-state plant and wanting to return to Tennessee, stated: “Just within the last month, GM Spring Hill let 60 more people go. My husband worked there 20 years. We thought we would retire down here.... I hate the words General Motors.”