Lear Corporation plans to close its Auburn Hills plant by mid-June, putting the factory’s 305 hourly employees out of work, company officials said on Friday.
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The Associated Press said the plant makes seats for the Buick LeSabre and Buick Park Avenue sedans, which are built at General Motors’ Orion Township plant in Oakland County.
The Southfield-based automotive supplier doesn’t have the seating contract for the next vehicle to be assembled at Orion, the Pontiac G6 sedan, so it has no choice but to close its Auburn Hills plant, company officials told AP on Friday.
Company spokesman Mel Stephens reportedly said the United Auto Workers union and Lear reached an agreement on Tuesday about the future of the plant and its workers, but didn’t elaborate.
AP noted that the UAW contract at the Auburn Hills plant expired in May – union officials declined comment.
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By GlobalDataSeparately, the report added, the UAW and Lear reached an agreement on Tuesday that would allow Lear’s two Grand Rapids-area seating plants to stay open.
Associated Press said that, in the last couple of months, Lear and the UAW were involved in contract talks over whether the company would merge its Grand Rapids and Walker plants, which could have resulted in 400 job losses – the contract expired in May.
Both plants make seat parts for GM and other automakers, AP said.
