Panel Urges Study to Retool GM Plant

A proposal to rescue jobs by retrofitting the huge General Motors auto plant in Van Nuys to manufacture mass-transit rail cars or buses should be explored, the Los Angeles City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee agreed Wednesday.

At the urging of Councilman Ernani Bernardi of Van Nuys, the panel unanimously recommended that the council set up a task force of business, union and government leaders to look into the feasibility of retooling the plant, which is set to shut down next year, idling 3,500 workers.

Mayor Tom Bradley and Nikolas Patsaouras, a member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, also have expressed interest in having the plant become a center for producing rail cars for the region’s growing mass-transit network.

In a related matter, the same council panel delayed final action on a Bernardi request that the city apply for a $50,000 federal grant to develop re-employment and retraining programs for GM workers laid off by the plant closure. A city official said the grant application may not proceed until after a study on the needs of the workers is completed in six weeks.