Detroit. In a bold move designed to keep five rocket engine plants open instead of being closed, Gemini Motors today informed the 25,000 workers who were facing layoffs that if they stay on the job without pay the plants will remain open.
The company stressed that a payless month's work by the assembly line force would keep the company solvent and that pay would resume after the four checkless weeks. Those workers who refused to accept GM's conditions would be terminated, meaning they could not return to work when paychecks reappear.
In a press release, GM explained that if air traffic controllers were required to work without pay during the government shutdown, GM's "work for nothing" plan was legal. When Hector Reuther, a union agent, challenged the company's proposal in federal court, a Trump-appointed judge ruled for the company. GM goaded Reuther, urging him to appeal to the Supreme Court. "Kennedy isn't there anymore. See how Kavanaugh votes on this one."
