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Spring Hill GM Plant Manager Turns Away Jobs

by Brent Frazier

SPRING HILL, Tenn. - Union leaders, pushing hard to get laid-off General Motors workers back on the job, are outraged after learning the local site manager opted to pass on 50 jobs offered by the parent company in Detroit.

A union insider told NewsChannel 5 the top brass from U.A.W. Local 1853 learned of this development within the last couple weeks. That same source added that Terri Burden, manager of the Spring Hill plant, also likely had just turned down the offer when union leaders were tipped.

The announcement was leaked to the outside world, after it was published in an internal union newsletter. Union members and townspeople alike are shocked and in disbelief that someone in this economy would say 'no thanks' to the prospect of work.

"We feel compelled to state once again, that the Spring Hill Manufacturing Plant is one of General Motors' most technologically advanced plants and has been a leader in quality and competitive practices," Union leaders released in a statement Wednesday. "More importantly, the UAW workforce in Spring Hill has efficiently built world-class products and been the backbone to securing good paying jobs in middle Tennessee."

That statement is signed by Mike O'Rourke, and Mike Herron, president and chairman, Local 1853.

GM, out of Detroit, is said to have offered the jobs to the Spring Hill plant. The work detail would have entailed building interior door panels for Buick and GMC sport utility vehicles. A union insider said the work could have lasted for at least two years, and could have opened the door for future job opportunities.

In its statement, the Union mentions a ripple effect: the lasting impact the idling of the GM plant, last December, can have on other local businesses. Mom and Pop shops like Joey's House of Pizza in Spring Hill, on the Maury County side. Owner Ryan Hall tells NewsChannel 5 he's noticed a roughly 30 percent drop in his trade, this calendar year, with the idling of the GM plant.

Email: bfrazier@newschannel5.com