The long way home: 175 transferred to Lordstown | News, Sports, Jobs

LORDSTOWN – There have been more than 175 former General Motors plant workers in Lordstown, OK’d, so far, transferred to work at electric vehicle battery maker Ultium Cells, according to the automaker.

GM, however, does not say which plants the workers come from.

“We’re not going to get into that level of expertise,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said in an email.

GM did, though, at least once provide relocation numbers and plant locations to former Lordstown workers who wanted to relocate after GM announced in late 2018 the plant was closing the following year.

The first wave of transfers is scheduled to begin orientation to their new jobs June 17, according to Josh Ayers, bargaining chairman for United Auto Workers Local 1112.

Eligible employees can apply for transfers until mid-September.

“Transfers will be approved based on rank as future opportunities become available,” Kelly said in the email.

There are about 800 former Lordstown employees eligible to apply to transfer to work at Ultium Cells, Ayers said.

The ability of displaced Lordstown workers to move was found in national contract negotiations between the UAW union and GM. The contract, approved by UAW members in November, gives those working at the plant on Nov. 26, 2016, six months to apply to work at the battery plant. That started in March, “So the exact number of potential beneficiaries is unknown,” Ayers said in an email Thursday.

The six-month window closes on September 13. Those returning retain their current salary, benefits and rank.

According to a letter from GM to employees, eligibility to move will be determined on the 15th of each month for the following month’s vacancies, and selected employees who will be transferred to Ultium Cells will do so as employees hired by GM.

Also, the letter states that eligible employees who move out of the Ultium Cells area will be eligible for relocation allowance, but those who relocate are not eligible to be reassigned to any UAW-GM facility. “unless the employee is laid off indefinitely” from Ultium cells.

The first job vacancies were published on April 15.

Around the Easter holiday weekend, former Lordstown staff were able to visit Ultium Cells. About 130 participated, Ayers said.

An open house, he said, was “It is beneficial for those who like to go back home because the work at Ultium Cells is normal for an assembly plant or a brand. There were some who visited the facility and immediately got off the planning list after the visit.”

Ultium Cells is a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solutions of South Korea to mass produce battery cells to provide capacity to support production of Detroit EV vehicles in North America.

The Lordstown facility was the first to launch production in late 2022. At last count, the plant employed about 2,000 people.

Do you have an interesting story? Email Business Editor Ron Selak Jr. at rselak@tribtoday.com.