Employment

The Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly is located on the border of the City of Detroit and the City of Hamtramck and covers 3.6 million square feet (365 acres). The plant employs over 3,800 people and makes GM luxury cars. 

Community Involvement

The plant supports various community activities such as:

• The Clinton River Watershed Council (CRWC) water monitoring program annually engages more than 1,500 junior high and high school students in river quality education projects, covering 760 square miles and an estimated 1,000 miles of streams in southeast Michigan. CRWC is part of Project GREEN, a program of the national organization Earth Force. Project GREEN – the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network – provides opportunities for young people to understand, improve, and sustain watersheds in their community. Students combine their data with those collected by other schools to see if trends exist throughout the watershed. As they learn about water quality within their watershed, the students use their findings to create solutions. Through Project GREEN, they also share data with schools across the nation and in 136 countries worldwide. In addition to practical science experience, students learn to apply their knowledge to community advocacy, gaining lifelong habits of environmental stewardship. Environmental Services employees from Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, Pontiac East Assembly, and Warren Transmission gathered at the Shelby River Bends Park in 2000 to experience monitoring days together. Environmental Engineers from Detroit/Hamtramck have participated in monitoring days for the past six years.

• Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly actively participates in Earth Day presentations with many local school districts.

• Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly provides plant orientation and tours for Wayne State University School of Medicine, government agencies, and other groups, such as the Coalition of Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES).

• Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly has supported environmental engineer career development through internships with students from Wayne State University.

• GM and the UAW have joined forces to launch LifeMatch, a proactive UAW and GM employee donor recruiting campaign aimed at adding thousands of people to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. LifeMatch was kicked off at Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly in October 2000, just prior to the start of National Marrow Awareness Month. LifeMatch continues to sponsor recruiting drives at UAW-represented GM facilities across the United States.

• The Clark Street Technology Park, located on the site of GM’s former Cadillac manufacturing headquarters, is one successful example of brownfield redevelopment in Detroit. GM developed the Technology Park through an innovative partnership with several major real estate development companies, a bank, and city and state governments. GM dismantled most of the buildings on the 80-acre site, creating 1.5 million square feet of reusable space. The park represents new investment of more than $125 million and created 1,700 new jobs in Detroit. Efforts were successful in encouraging minority suppliers for the automotive industry to become tenants of the park.

• Detroit/Hamtramck employees participate in many fundraisers around in the community, such as Juvenile Diabetes Foundation “Walk to Cure Diabetes”, United Negro College Fund “Walkathon”, and Hamtramck’s “Paint-the-Town” program. In 2000, Detroit/Hamtramck received the “Spirit of Detroit” award for its involvement with Vernor Park, a nearby park in the community where teenage basketball teams compete for a local championship.

• Detroit/Hamtramck along with the UAW-GM Joint Training Department, sponsors the Detroit Manufacturing Partnership in connection with the Detroit Public School System. Each year, 30 high school students are given the opportunity to gain personal knowledge of an automotive manufacturing environment through hands-on training and classroom experience.

• Detroit/Hamtramck employees dig deep into their pockets to donate to its annual “Adopt-A-Family” program. In 2000, over $38,000 was raised to help eight needy families in the surrounding community. Proceeds were also sent to five local charitable organizations. Employees volunteer their time to shop for food, clothing and toys for children, and wrap the gifts and personally deliver them to the families for Christmas.

Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Environmental Staff

• Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly employs two full-time environmental professionals hired and trained to ensure that Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly is a world leader in environmental stewardship. These individuals are Certified Hazardous Materials Managers. They are supported by many groups in the plant, including: Chemical Management Contractor

• Paint Shop Chemical Management Team (Pollution Prevention/WE CARE Team)

• Spill Response Team / Emergency Response Team (ERT)

• State Certified Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators

• ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Team

• Environmental Consultants

These individuals work with the production personnel to develop new and innovative ways to operate efficiently while reducing environmental impact.