The workers now assigned to Plant 17 will have the right to transfer as the work and material is moved to GM's Technical Center in Warren, says Charlie Tiedeman, president of UAW Local 653.The move should be completed by the second quarter of 2005, with the prototypes and other material now stored in the old Fisher Body plant shifted to Warren, according to the timetable laid out in January when GM gave final approval to the consolidation of the engineering related functions at the refurbished tech center in Warren.

A GM document explaining the underlying rationale for the move noted that the planned consolidation will help GM eliminate more than 1.2 million sf and speed up delivery times and trim inventories. The final move also will complete GM's 10-year transition to one Vehicle Engineering Center, the GM document notes.

Earlier this month, GM confirmed it was preparing to shift hundreds of skilled workers from the GM Engineering Validation Center, at Woodward Avenue and South Boulevard, as part of the consolidation of the pre-production operation in Warren.In all, the move involving members of UAW Local 594 will shift 900 skilled blue-collar jobs from the GM operations along South Boulevard to Warren, union officials say.