GM to Recall Over 1,000 Workers at Lordstown Plant

This is great news for Ohio, and perhaps a sign that the "Cash For Clunkers" program did in fact help boost auto sales, and in turn, the local economy. On Tuesday, General Motors announced that it would be adding shifts and run some plants on overtime to increase production by 60,000 vehicles by year's end in response to the demand created by the government program

For Ohio, this means that over 1,000 idled union workers will be back on the job. Ontario will also have a number of their union workers recalled, and overtime shifts will be provided for some 10,000 GM workers . In addition, GM plans to increase output at nearly all of its plants in the U.S..

The popularity of the Chevy Cobalt has surged thanks to the C.A.R.S. (aka "Cash for Clunkers") program, and as a result GM is restarting the second shift at Lordstown in early September. More than 1000 workers will return to work, which will bring employment at the plant back up to 3,330. The news also came just in time, as some laid off workers were about to see a reduction in benefits.

The second shift was eliminated at the Lordstown plant in January, more than half a year later is being brought back as the industry has turned around its sales slump.