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Workers at General Motors' Lordstown Assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio put the final touches on Chevy Cobalts.
FILE – In this Tuesday, June 15, 2010, file photo, workers at General Motors’ Lordstown Assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio put the final touches on Chevy Cobalts. Falling demand for cars is forcing General Motors to lay off more than 2,000 workers indefinitely at two assembly plants in Ohio and Michigan starting in January 2017. The company says it will indefinitely suspend the third shifts at factories in Lordstown, Ohio, near Cleveland, and in Lansing, Mich., because customers are shifting from cars to SUVs and trucks. (AP Photo | Mark Duncan, File)

UAW Lawsuit Says GM Lordstown Workers Could Replace Temps At Indiana Plant

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The United Auto Workers labor union is suing General Motors over the use of temporary workers at a plant in Indiana, saying that laid-off members from Lordstown could do the jobs.

The UAW filed the suit this week in federal court in Youngstown. The suit accuses the company of violating a labor agreement that allows laid-off employees with seniority to seek to relocate to other GM facilities.

The complaint says the union agreed to GM’s hiring of temporary employees in Fort Wayne, Indiana, through August 2018 to help with the launch of a new pickup truck.

According to the lawsuit, the union rejected company proposals to keep the temps on into 2019. The suit says GM plans to employ temporary workers through May of this year, while the union agreed to a deadline of November 30 of last year.

The lawsuit asks the court to order GM to stop using temporary workers at Fort Wayne and to transfer seniority employees there instead.

The complaint says almost 690 laid-off employees from Lordstown have the right to put in for a transfer to Fort Wayne.

In a statement, a GM spokesman said the company has begun bringing on about 50 employees from Lordstown to fill jobs that temps had been working.

“In fact, about 35 Lordstown UAW members will be in place by the end of January,” spokesman Dan Flores said. “We have ongoing discussions with the UAW regarding our staffing needs in Ft. Wayne, but have no further comments on the lawsuit.”

A spokesman for the UAW said the union does not typically comment on legal filings.