TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – General Motors reported its largest profit ever of $7.6 billion in 2011 on Thursday, and that is good news for auto workers in the Toledo area.
The record setting year for GM has everyone from workers to union leaders to retirees in good spirits.
"It's a great year. It's a great year for everybody. It guarantees that I'm going to get my retirement checks, and I'm glad to see they're making money." John Marckel, a GM Powertrain retiree told WTOL.
Marckel worked in the plant for 25 years, and was there for the good times as well as the bad:
"Things were a little difficult. I worked there. When I worked there, there was once upon a time 4200. I think when I left it was less than 1500."
Now, two years after GM emerged from bankruptcy, everyone seems to be pleased with the results they are seeing.
The GM Powertrain plant has also rebounded, and United Auto Workers Local 14 member Tom Marckel says that if profits stay up, workers will stay busy:
"We've got a lot of people transferring into our plant, and we have plans to hire more people when we start our 8 speed transmission."
As an added bonus, union workers will get $7,000 profit sharing checks.
"We gave up quite a few concessions when we went through the bankruptcy, and this $7000 is Gm's way of paying us back kind of." said Marckel.
Union leaders say that will be good for the local economy, because workers will go out and spend the money.
GM also froze pensions for some workers and moved them over to the company's 401k plan to hold down expenses.
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