For Immediate Release
CONTACT: PETER M. KEATING (810) 825-7930
KARL G. OSKOIAN (810) 825-7980
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - - - General Dynamics Land Systems will
phase out its manufacturing operation at the Detroit Arsenal Tank
Plant by December 1996. The government-owned plant, where General
Dynamics machines tank components, is scheduled for closure in
1999.
In an agreement with the U.S. Army, General Dynamics will transfer equipment and the associated manufacturing work to its plant in Muskegon, Michigan, starting in September 1996.
One hundred fifty-nine General Dynamics employees are affected by this action. Some will remain at the plant operating the powerhouse and performing maintenance for a limited period of time. Over 50 percent of the employees will be eligible to retire immediately; others will be offered transfers or provided out-placement assistance through the company Employee Transition Center in Sterling Heights. Affected employees will receive as much notice as possible.
The more than one million square foot facility in Warren, Michigan, opened in April 1941 and built over 44,500 armored vehicles, including every model of U.S. Army tank until 1991. It employed over 2,500 workers, building more than 947 tanks in 1987, the high watermark in its history. In 1991 the plant was reduced to machining tank components when the Army transferred all tank assembly work to the Lima (Ohio) Army Tank Plant. Today its workers build parts for the M1A2 Abrams tank. Declining production rates and lower defense spending caused the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission to recommend that the plant be shut down.
LS-96-17
8/12/96