ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996              TAG: 9603140034
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-6  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WARREN, MICH.
SOURCE: Bloomberg Business News 

GM CLOSES 5 MORE FACTORIES 55,000 MORE WORKERS LAID OFF BECAUSE OF STRIKE

General Motors Corp. on Tuesday closed five more assembly plants, putting 9 car and truck factories at a standstill because of a week-old strike at two Dayton, Ohio, brake plants.

GM closed three truck and two auto plants Tuesday. The shutdown of more than half of GM's 29 North American assembly plants has brought layoff notices to 55,500 workers.

The interruption is costing the carmaker $185 million a day in lost production revenue, said Patrick Dunkerley, an analyst with Edward D. Jones & Co.

GM and the United Auto Workers said they agreed to meet in an informal session Tuesday evening. The two sides haven't talked since Thursday.

There has been ``very little'' progress so far, said Dan Brockman, a UAW Local 696 spokesman. GM could face additional labor problems because five UAW locals have voted to strike if various local issues aren't settled.

The strike began when about 3,000 UAW members walked off the job last Tuesday at two Delphi Chassis Systems plants in Dayton. The central issue is outsourcing, shifting work from plants to outside suppliers.

The two plants make brake parts for nearly all GM car and truck plants. As result, the company is idling plants that have run out of master cylinders and other brake parts.

With Tuesday's closings, 2,100 workers in Linden, N.J., were laid off who make Chevrolet S-Series, Blazer and GMC Jimmy and Sonoma trucks. At the Oshawa, Ontario, Chevrolet CK and GMC Sierra pickup plant, 3,100 workers were laid off. At the Flint, Mich., Chevrolet CK and GMC Sierra pickup and Vandura/Rally vans plant, about 2,400 workers were laid off.

In addition, GM laid off 3,200 workers who build the Buick Century and Oldsmobile Ciera in Oklahoma City, and 1,400 workers who make the Buick Roadmaster, Chevrolet Caprice Classic and Cadillac Eldorado in Arlington, Texas.

GM probably will close all but one of its assembly plants by the end of the week if the strike continues, said spokesman Gerald Holmes. The lone plant likely to remain open, in Doraville, Ga., is not fully operational, he said.

LENGTH: Short :   50 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. Debbie Miller wipes her lunch counter in Moraine, 
          Ohio. It's usually filled with GM workers.