General Motors Co. by next week could let go of about 250 part-time temporary employees at an Indiana truck plant since the automaker and United Auto Workers Local 2209 haven't reached a deal on the use of the workers helping to build light-duty trucks.

"The company and UAW have been unable to reach an agreement for extending part-time temporary team members at Fort Wayne Assembly. According to the provisions of our National UAW-GM contract, without an agreement, we will be required to release about 250 temporary employees by September 30, 2024," GM spokesperson Tara Kuhnen said in a statement.

Rich LeTourneau, shop chairman of UAW Local 2209, said he's been negotiating with GM since last December to make the part-time temps at least full-time temps, if not permanent employees. He is against signing a letter to keep them in part-time temporary positions. Signing the letter "would be exploiting our temps and that contradicts everything the UAW stands for," he wrote in a Sept. 20 newsletter to members.

"They made it very clear they are not going to hire them," LeTourneau said. "They don't even argue about it with me. They're not even skeptical about it. They're not going to hire them. They're not going to give them false expectations."

Under the UAW-GM contract, GM is supposed to hire full-time temporary employees as permanent employees after nine months of continuous service or if there's full-time need at the facility. Part-time temporary employees are considered "for full-time temporary opportunities based on longest continuous length of service," according to the contract.

Ninety-five of the part-time temps have been working at the plant since last year, LeTourneau said. Fort Wayne Assembly has about 4,300 employees making the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500.

"They're basically saying that the corporation doesn't believe we're going to need full-time temps," LeTourneau said. "They said it's unneeded cost."

But with an upcoming buyout program starting in November, LeTourneau says the company will need the temporary employees. If the part-time temps are let go, to keep the plant running LeTourneau said GM has told him it will take seniority members and move them from first shift to second or third shift, which members are not happy about.

"The new GM has violated our local and national agreements since they walked in the front door," LeTourneau said. "Not signing a temp letter is not a violation, it’s a right. The company’s counter-measure to violate my members' seniority is not contractual."

The potential loss of temporary workers at GM Fort Wayne comes after Stellantis has laid off hundreds of supplemental or temporary workers from its workforce. It most recently let go of 177 supplemental workers at the Sterling Heights (Michigan) Assembly Plant where the Ram 1500 is built.

©2024 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.