Supervisors Urge GM to Use Plant for Research

County supervisors Tuesday called on General Motors to use its soon-to-be-closed Van Nuys plant for the research and development of electric automobiles.

The board approved an urgency proposal to write a letter to GM executives, asking them to “take advantage of our well-trained and talented labor pool, which remains ready for an easy transition into new technology,” said Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who introduced the motion.

The board also agreed to ask the Private Industry Council to “begin immediately developing a job retraining program for employees faced with layoffs at the plant.” The company recently announced it is moving its Camaro and Firebird production to Canada.