Melanie Smith, who has worked at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. auto plant for 21 years in quality control, holds up a copy of the tentative agreement she voted to accept outside the United Auto Workers union hall in Fremont, Calif., Wednesday, March 17, 2010. The UAW says guild employees at California's sole remaining auto plant will likely ratify an agreement to shut down the facility. Workers at the Fremont-based Nummi plant are voting on the proposed deal Wednesday. The facility, which employs 4,600 workers, is slated to close April 1. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Production at Calif's last auto plant winding down

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

FREMONT - Production at California's sole remaining auto plant is winding down, as the Fremont facility prepares to close next Thursday.

Parts of the New United Motor Manufacturing, or NUMMI, plant have finished work ahead of schedule and are shutting down this week. The early layoff took some employees by surprise when they showed up to work Thursday and were told there was nothing left to do.

NUMMI officials say all full-time employees still will be paid through April 1.

NUMMI began 25 years ago as a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors Co. GM pulled out last year, and Toyota later announced it would halt production, eliminating 4,700 jobs.

The plant's closure is the latest blow to the state's struggling manufacturing sector, which has lost nearly a fifth of its work force over the past five years.

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