TOLEDO, Ohio -
The employment numbers are heading in the right direction at GM's Toledo Transmission plant. In fact, more than a hundred people have been hired in recent months, and that's not the end of the good news at the plant.
In addition to the people who were hired in the last few months, even more jobs will be added at the plant in the coming months as they add a new product line.
As that happens, union leaders say they are gearing up to say goodbye to one of the management leaders who helped make all this good news possible.
The work just keeps on coming here at the Toledo transmission plant. Right now they build front and rear wheel drive, six speed transmissions. Next year they'll start building an eight-speed transmission.
UAW Local 14 President Ray Wood says since late last year about 150 people have been added to the employment ranks, "Since December we've been bringing people in steadily and the new 8 speed line will crate new jobs as well. I also believe that there will be even more job opportunities created by the front wheel drive six-speed transmission."
The new eight-speed transmission should be in full production in mid to late 2013. Wood expects hiring for the work to begin in the first half of the year, and he is always focused on landing even more work, "Is there room for more work here? Absolutely, we will never stop trying to fill the plant up and we are more than hopeful that will be accomplished."
As they get ready for a new line, it's the end of the line for plant personnel director Joe Farinella who is retiring after 37 years with General Motors. He spent a decade in the Toledo plant, "There is so much I will miss about GM and this plant, but at the same time there is a lot I am looking forward to as well."
As Wood looks back on Farinella's time in Toledo, he says Joe has been a huge part of the plant's incredible success story," He's been a vital part of what we've been able to do here, what we've been able to accomplish together as a team."
Team is the key word at this plant. Farinella says the union and management work together to make it run so well, "We've got almost two thousand people at this plant who get up every day and work to move the needle in a positive direction and they do it better than anyone else."
Farinella and his wife plan to stay in the Toledo area and he hopes to get even more involved in the community in his new found free time. On a side note they're about to mark a milestone at the Toledo Transmission plant . Next Thursday, the one millionth six speed front wheel drive transmission will roll off the lines. Another big accomplishment for the local workforce.
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