DETROIT - A decision by General Motors Corp. to close a parts-making plant and find new owners or partners for four other plants continues to meet with bitter resistance from autoworkers unions in the United States and Canada. GM's Delphi Automotive Systems said it plans to sell three plants from its Interior and Lighting unit. These include plants in Livonia, Mich., and Windsor and Oshawa, Ontario, which make seat assemblies, molded bumper covers, door panels and other interior parts.
In addition, a Delphi plant in Albany, Ga., that makes generators will be closed within two years and a partner will be sought for some operations in another plant in Flint, Mich., which manufactures power and manual window openers.
The April 11 announcement came only three weeks after the United Auto Workers staged a 17-day walkout at two Delphi brake plants in Dayton, Ohio. The strike shut down GM assembly operations in North America.
UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker denounced the planned factory sell-off as ``unwarranted, disruptive and damaging to the UAW/GM relationship.''
The Canadian Auto Workers union has vowed to fight the move by GM to sell the plants and buy more parts from outside sources.