Union: GM may expand eastern Missouri factory

WENTZVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- General Motors Co.'s plans to create 1,850 new jobs through a $380 million investment in its suburban St. Louis factory was hailed Tuesday as encouraging by the governor of the state grappling with ways to expand its workforce.

The United Auto Workers said the planned expansion of the Wentzville plant west of St. Louis -- a project tucked into the automaker's new four-year contract deal with the labor union -- calls for adding a second shift to produce full-size vans. The factory also would start making a midsize pickup truck.

As part of the deal that union leaders nationwide voted to recommend for ratification by GM's 48,000 factory workers, 6,400 GM jobs will be added or kept in the U.S. while the automaker looks to keep costs in check by offering buyouts to longtime workers and replacing them with lower-wage hires.

Word of the possible expansion in Wentzville was the latest welcomed news in Missouri, where lawmakers last year approved incentives for automakers. Since then, Ford Motor Co. pledged to invest $400 million for improvements at a Kansas City area plant.

Nixon's office said in a statement that it has been in discussions with GM over the past year and hopes to work closely with the automaker as it expands, adding that it remains "committed to bringing next-generation automotive production to Missouri."

"We are strongly encouraged by the recent steps GM has taken, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with GM throughout this process," the statement from Nixon's office read.

"This will be a real shot in the arm for Wentzville and the St. Louis area," Mike Bullock, chairman of the UAW Local 2250 that represents hourly workers at the Wentzville plant, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Wentzville's governing aldermanic board last week paved the way for the expansion, signing off on a tax abatement for the 1,300-worker factory that now has one shift.

Tuesday's announcement came against the backdrop of Missouri's special legislative session that had lawmakers at loggerheads over a Nixon-backed job-creation proposal meant to revamp the state's business incentives.

The House canceled a scheduled committee vote Tuesday on the legislation, which would scale back some of Missouri's existing tax credits and create new incentives for business that hire employees, opt to remain in Missouri instead of moving elsewhere or export products internationally through the St. Louis airport.