Temporary Employees At The Corvette Plant ? What Is That , Exactly ?
 

Was just reading the article regarding the narrowly avoided shutdown of the Corvette plant due to almost losing the 'temporary employees' because of contract negotiations.

And immediately I thought of quality and quality control.

Anyone familiar with what exactly a temporary worker is? What is their training , what is their skillset , where did they come from ? Why aren't they regular GM employees ? Do they come and go as needed ?

I am not suggesting GM is hiring a bunch of inexperienced cheap labor , but do you suppose that quality control incidences increase with temporary workers ?

The temporary workers were hired starting in 2019 in an effort to keep production on pace with demand, which sadly hasn't happened since the demand has been overwhelming. But I do not think quality has been impacted with the hiring of the temp workers - after all, those working in temp positions have an opportunity to transition into full time positions should openings occur. This link gives some info, posted back in 2019, about what type of individuals GM was looking for in the temp workers:

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2019...ction-workers/

I would imagine that they receive the same training and have the same expectations in terms of quality of work that the full time employees have - otherwise, there certainly would be a degradation of quality in the C8.

Interesting . Thank you for the info . So this has been ongoing sice 2019 when the C8 started .

Hopefully there hasn't been a high turnover rate, since it is a pretty low wage job ($16.67 per hour).

But I'm sure there isn't any real concern with these temporary workers . Just thought I'd ask about it since it was the first time I had heard of the C8 plant using temp workers

Wow, $16.76 seems awfully low.......

Brutal

That is why the plant is in KY. Cheap labor and maximizing the profit. Corporate greed

Possibly, though keep in mind it's Kentucky. COL is generally pretty low in the South and Midwestern states so the wages are often a bit lower.

That is why several Asian and European mfgrs have manufacturing plants scattered all over the deep South. Hyundai, BMW, Toyota come to mind. I think MB also.

On temp workers, you have to think about the actual work being done at any individual station in a progressive assembly. There are lots of positions with varying complexity. Temp workers are usually assigned to the easier to learn, less complicated stations. Progressive assembly is basically doing the same thing over and over. It's the opposite of the "hand built" process where a single person has to be more knowledgeable.

The article I read in the Detroit News said the settlement averted eliminating the 2nd shift. Imagine what THAT would have done to production! :eek:

That guy who pulls up to your house in a rusted out pick up truck (while playing with his phone and/or taking a selfie) to drop off your package from ( Amazon, UPS, USPS etc.) on your porch - is the same guy building your Corvette after the Christmas season is over.

If you've ever done the tour and looked at what they do and the pace you wouldn't really say that....



The jobs are so easy that a 100 pound little blue haired lady installed engines for years in the c6's and c7...by her self...


They used them when I was there on the second shift to re-stock the production lines and clean up to get ready for start of next day...They were not assembling with them when I was there...

I did the 1 on 1 tour during C7 so I got to ask the tour guide a lot of questions. I'm in manufacturing in a different industry, so it was way interesting to me. One of the things I found shocking is asking how long it takes to train someone for each station/work cell. The average time is about one hour, with most being below that. That means you don't need a highly skilled / costly workforce and you can rotate people easily. Quite surprising, I would have thought a lot more training would be needed. Makes sense how they are able to slot in temporary workers so easily.

I was the same way lol...I worked more than 45 years in tapered roller bearing manufacturing...we did the four hour tour so lots of questions....My area is tooling and gauging so I asked a lot about those areas as well...Turns out several quality stations were not manned...They had a large jig and surface plate to measure chassis squareness/level and it had rust on it it was used so little...The paint inspection area, a long line of bright fluorescent lights, was not manned either..among others..most people barely had to move to do their job...tools were suspended in mid air so little bending or lifting and everyone had two two three personal fans in an air conditioned building lol...No one was sweating for sure...or moving very fast. Still it was awesome to see it work..

Temp workers are used to protect Union workers.
When times are good and the plant needs more help, they hire Temp workers, that way when the bubble burst and there are more workers than work, the temps are first to go... Protecting the Union worker from loosing their job.

of course they would have to.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...ut/69696837007

Takes me back to the days when we/Caterpillar UAW members were pretty much forced to accept two tier wage scale or continue a long strike! 🤨

“A two-tier wage scale that brings in some new hires at $7/hour with an $8.50/hour maximum pay, a hefty cut from the existing $16/hour starting wage. This became a common corporate tactic in the 1980s: to pit older workers against younger, undermine worker/union solidarity and begin slashing all wages.”

https://againstthecurrent.org/atc039/p5152/

From what I read, it looks like the situation has been resolved at Bowling Green plant. Whewww.

If they could not agree upon a settlement, Chevy would have to avert a strike by Lay off all the temp workers, shutting down second shift. There are Union workers who want 2nd shift, but this would forcing union workers to move from 2nd to day shift. As I said before, these temp workers are the protection for Union workers being forced to move shifts or be laid off. My answer would have GM increase the pay of the temp workers ( by what the union dues are) and Force the temp workers to pay the Union dues. Then I bet this Temp workers issue goes away.