Mikey
22-03-2010, 08:42 AM
2010 is shaping up to possibly be a milestone at Holden’s if you consider this article on the Adelaide Now website. Holden was smart to try and carry as many employees as it possibly could through the darker moments and now is set to employ maybe another 500 workers. It is interesting that they even mentioned the what if of re-employing some who took a redundancy previously.
It is good to see the Cruze is on track and the US Police cars seems now real and that maybe a Chev Rwd V8 sedan is still being pushed. There must be some very good people behind the scenes at Holden at the moment. Only time will tell if any or all of this pans out though.
Export lift to boost jobs for Holden STUART MARTIN From: The Advertiser March 22, 2010 12:01AM HOLDEN'S Elizabeth workforce has been told a second shift - with potentially as many as 500 jobs - may begin as early as October.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union told The Advertiser that morale had improved at the plant as a result of the planned return of the second shift and better export potential.
"What we have been told by Holden is that they are looking at putting on a second shift, a permanent day shift and a permanent afternoon shift, in the last quarter of this year," said SA state secretary John Camillo.
GM Holden executive director of manufacturing Martyn Cray, in charge of the engine operations, wouldn't specify a start date but confirmed the return to two shifts was planned.
"It's too early to give a definitive date, we've been really keen not to put any date out there on the shop floor, the last thing we want to be accused of is bringing false hope, it's too early to put a date out there," he said.
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The second shift would potentially work on supplying Statesman-based police cars to the US and there is also hope of an export deal for a Commodore performance sedan.
The factory's preparations for building the four-cylinder Cruze are on track, according to Mr Cray but reports of 20,000 a year build numbers was premature, he said.
The workforce is returning to a normal working schedule, with about 250 of the estimated 2700 blue and white collar workforce at Elizabeth still working alternate weeks, a situation that is likely to change by the end of the year.
"Which means everyone would be on full production and Holden would have to employ more people, it could be up to 500 workers, that's got to have a flow-on effect for suppliers as well," Mr Camillo said.
It is not known if workers who took redundancy packages last year would be able to return if Holden hired more staff. Mr Camillo said the mood had improved but the workforce still had questions.
"Morale has picked up compared to what it was, morale is very good at Holden because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
The factory is producing about 340 cars a day, but on two shifts this can increase to a maximum of 620.
It is good to see the Cruze is on track and the US Police cars seems now real and that maybe a Chev Rwd V8 sedan is still being pushed. There must be some very good people behind the scenes at Holden at the moment. Only time will tell if any or all of this pans out though.
Export lift to boost jobs for Holden STUART MARTIN From: The Advertiser March 22, 2010 12:01AM HOLDEN'S Elizabeth workforce has been told a second shift - with potentially as many as 500 jobs - may begin as early as October.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union told The Advertiser that morale had improved at the plant as a result of the planned return of the second shift and better export potential.
"What we have been told by Holden is that they are looking at putting on a second shift, a permanent day shift and a permanent afternoon shift, in the last quarter of this year," said SA state secretary John Camillo.
GM Holden executive director of manufacturing Martyn Cray, in charge of the engine operations, wouldn't specify a start date but confirmed the return to two shifts was planned.
"It's too early to give a definitive date, we've been really keen not to put any date out there on the shop floor, the last thing we want to be accused of is bringing false hope, it's too early to put a date out there," he said.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
The second shift would potentially work on supplying Statesman-based police cars to the US and there is also hope of an export deal for a Commodore performance sedan.
The factory's preparations for building the four-cylinder Cruze are on track, according to Mr Cray but reports of 20,000 a year build numbers was premature, he said.
The workforce is returning to a normal working schedule, with about 250 of the estimated 2700 blue and white collar workforce at Elizabeth still working alternate weeks, a situation that is likely to change by the end of the year.
"Which means everyone would be on full production and Holden would have to employ more people, it could be up to 500 workers, that's got to have a flow-on effect for suppliers as well," Mr Camillo said.
It is not known if workers who took redundancy packages last year would be able to return if Holden hired more staff. Mr Camillo said the mood had improved but the workforce still had questions.
"Morale has picked up compared to what it was, morale is very good at Holden because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
The factory is producing about 340 cars a day, but on two shifts this can increase to a maximum of 620.