GM contract to save Windsor jobs

A new contract from General Motors will give a Windsor, Ont., factory hope for the future and secure 230 jobs.

Nemak, a supplier for the automotive industry, announced an $8-million investment in its Windsor Aluminum Plant on Tuesday in order to retool for manufacturing cylinder blocks for GM.

The components will supply GM's Spring Hill Engine Plant in Tennessee to build the new Ecotec four-cylinder engine.

Nemak did not release the dollar value of the contract with GM.

Ford pulling out of plant

The plant currently produces 400,000 engine blocks a year, primarily for the Ford Motor Company, but the automaker has said it is pulling out in November 2011.

The 230 workers at the Nemak plant had faced a layoff if no new contract could be found.

In an effort to help secure those jobs and spur economic development, the City of Windsor contributed $3 million to the plant overhaul as part of the city's Community Improvement Plan.

GM had reportedly been considering contracting the work to plants in Mexico or the southern United States.

Union accepts lower wages

Members of CAW Local 200, which represents Windsor's Ford employees, voted earlier this year to create a stand-alone bargaining unit for Nemak on the condition the company found new work for the plant.

The new bargaining unit would be made up of Local 200 members who are already on layoff or have been given layoff notices.

The workers also agreed to be paid less money.