GM replaces more than 1,000 workers with 50 robots – Business News
General (*50*) has gutted its electric-vehicle ambitions and killed more than 1,000 jobs at its flagship Detroit meeting plant — changing these workers with 50 robots and sparking outrage from labor unions.
The substitute “collaborative robots,” or “cobots,” have been put in on the meeting line at GM’s Factory Zero plant in Michigan amid a sharply decreased demand for its EV fashions and the following push to cut prices, reviews mentioned.
The machines are actually working alongside the remaining people there who connect the physique panels to automobiles as they transfer down the observe, in accordance with AutoWeblog.
“Cobots,” or “collaborative robots,” are actually working alongside workers on the meeting line at GM’s flagship Detroit plant. AP
The automaker insists the cobots are obligatory on the Detroit-Hamtramck electric-truck plant to remain aggressive whereas bettering “safety and ergonomics” for the workers, in accordance with Crain’s Detroit Business.
“We’ve been installing cobots across our manufacturing footprint as part of a broader push to bring more advanced technology into our operations,” spokesman Kevin Kelly mentioned.
“At Factory ZERO, we are implementing them alongside our team — helping improve safety and ergonomics, while keeping our operations flexible and competitive.”
But United Auto Workers Local 22 President James Cotton isn’t shopping for it, saying the machines are merely a cost-cutting measure that’s taking jobs from his union members.
“Our manpower is being taken away from us,” Cotton mentioned, in accordance with Crains.
“From top to bottom, we’re disgusted that they have cobots in our plants,” he mentioned.
Union workers protest being sidelined for machines. AP
More than 1,000 workers have been changed by 50 robots. Reuters
The quantity of labor hours required to provide a car has declined 50% to 70% because the Nineteen Eighties, Crains reported.
But that hasn’t stopped UAW wages from going up. The union was capable of make historic wage good points in 2023, and the union will doubtless search stronger protections in its upcoming 2028 contract negotiations, the outlet mentioned.
Cotton mentioned that regardless of the company’s declare of the technology making circumstances safer, he has security considerations with robots working subsequent to people and that the union has since filed grievances towards GM over the cobots.
The automaker claims the cobots are obligatory to remain aggressive whereas bettering “safety and ergonomics.” AP
The cobots arrived as GM is getting hammered by slowing EV demand — largely as a result of of the prices, in accordance with AAA — with the automaker pausing manufacturing at Factory Zero a number of occasions over the previous yr.
In response to GM’s heavy automation push and cobot set up, UAW President Shawn Fain mentioned workers are “in a fight for humanity,” reported the News Tribune.
“The fruits of our labor have multiplied like never before, but workers aren’t reaping the harvest,” he mentioned, in accordance with the outlet.
“And if AI continues to be used as an accessory to that crime, it has to be stopped — it doesn’t have to be this way — in a just society, when workers create more value, they see more of the benefit.”
In the primary quarter of 2026, GM reported $4.25 billion in earnings, up 22% from the identical period the earlier yr, in accordance with Yahoo! Finance.
