Picketers Demand GM Pledge to Retain Plant

General Motors auto workers demonstrated Thursday outside GM’s long-embattled Van Nuys plant, demanding that the company make a formal commitment to keep the plant open or face a consumer boycott campaign against its cars.

The status of the Van Nuys plant, which employs about 3,600 workers and is one of only two remaining auto assembly plants in California, was thrown into limbo two months ago when GM formally confirmed years of speculation that the plant would not be chosen to build the next generation of Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebirds in the early 1990s.

A GM spokesman said Thursday that the march was premature because the corporation has no stated intent of closing the plant. Executives say they are studying options for the plant, including converting it to a “flexible” facility that would build a variety of models.