Rotating layoffs announced at GM, Chrysler auto plants in Windsor

Workers at the General Motors transmission plant are facing temporary job cuts as the automaker reduces the number of transmissions it produces per day from 3,200 to 2,000.  Layoffs will rotate through shifts of 425 workers on a weekly basis following a weeklong shutdown that starts Feb. 16.  The GM plant in Windsor will be shut down permanently in June 2010.

Workers at Chrysler's assembly plant in Windsor will also experience temporary layoffs.  Starting next week at the plant, which employes 5,000 people, two shifts will be working while the third is on a layoff.