Workers are scheduled to build cars on overtime Saturday shifts Feb. 16 and Feb. 23, along with two more Saturday shifts in March and April, according to Jim Graham, president of Local 1112 that represents 2,400 workers at the Lordstown assembly plant.
Three Saturday overtime shifts are expected in May, he added.
For now, workers also are scheduled to work the second week of the annual shutdown in the first two weeks of July, although GM can change that schedule anytime in February, Graham said.
The complex worked the second week of the July shutdown last year for the first time in the many years since it began the annual down weeks for model changeover.
Another 1,000 hourly employees work at the next-door Metal Center plant, which makes and assembles steel body parts for the cars. Hundreds more work at nearby supplier plants.
Graham called the extra production good news because it shows strong demand for the fuel-efficient small cars during a time of high gasoline prices.
Cobalt sales dragged through the first half of the year before catching fire in the last five months as gasoline prices surged past $3 a gallon.
The car averaged 17,667 monthly sales in the last five months after averaging 16,041 through the first seven months. It finished as GM’s second-best selling car at 200,620, trailing the Chevrolet Impala’s 311,128 sales.
Graham acknowledged many workers look forward to the time off, but said the plant will get relief from temporary summer workers.
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