GM replaces more than 1,000 workers with 50 robots at flagship Detroit plant | Latest Tech News
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General Motors has gutted its electric-vehicle ambitions and killed more than 1,000 jobs at its flagship Detroit meeting plant — changing those workers with 50 robots and sparking outrage from labor unions.
The alternative “collaborative robots,” or “cobots,” have been put in on the meeting line at GM’s Factory Zero plant in Michigan amid a sharply diminished demand for its EV fashions and the following push to cut prices, studies said.
The machines are now working alongside the remaining people there who connect the physique panels to automobiles as they transfer down the observe, according to AutoWeblog.
“Cobots,” or “collaborative robots,” are now working alongside workers on the meeting line at GM’s flagship Detroit plant. AP
The automaker insists the cobots are essential at the Detroit-Hamtramck electric-truck plant to keep aggressive while enhancing “safety and ergonomics” for the workers, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
“We’ve been installing cobots across our manufacturing footprint as part of a broader push to bring more advanced technology into our operations,” spokesman Kevin Kelly said.
“At Factory ZERO, we are implementing them alongside our team — helping improve safety and ergonomics, while keeping our operations flexible and competitive.”
But United Auto Workers Local 22 President James Cotton isn’t shopping for it, saying the machines are merely a cost-cutting measure that is taking jobs from his union members.
“Our manpower is being taken away from us,” Cotton said, according to Crains.
“From top to bottom, we’re disgusted that they have cobots in our plants,” he said.
Union workers protest being sidelined for machines. AP
More than 1,000 workers have been changed by 50 robots. GWN
The quantity of labor hours required to produce a car has declined 50% to 70% since the Nineteen Eighties, Crains reported.
But that hasn’t stopped UAW wages from going up. The union was in a position to make historic wage features in 2023, and the union will doubtless search stronger protections in its upcoming 2028 contract negotiations, the outlet said.
Cotton said that despite the company’s declare of the technology making situations safer, he has security considerations with robots working next to people and that the union has since filed grievances against GM over the cobots.
The automaker claims the cobots are essential to keep aggressive while enhancing “safety and ergonomics.” AP
The cobots arrived as GM is getting hammered by slowing EV demand — largely because of the prices, according to AAA — with the automaker pausing manufacturing at Factory Zero a number of instances over the past yr.
In response to GM’s heavy automation push and cobot set up, UAW President Shawn Fain said workers are “in a fight for humanity,” reported the News Tribune.
“The fruits of our labor have multiplied like never before, but workers aren’t reaping the harvest,” he said, according to the outlet.
“And if AI continues to be used as an accessory to that crime, it has to be stopped — it doesn’t have to be this way — in a just society, when workers create more value, they see more of the benefit.”
In the first quarter of 2026, GM reported $4.25 billion in income, up 22% from the same period the earlier yr, according to Yahoo! Finance.
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