Moraine Assembly

Moraine Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Moraine, Ohio, United States, a suburb of Dayton. Originally opened as a Frigidaire appliance plant from 1951 to 1979, the plant produced trucks for GM. Starting in 1981, it produced the Chevrolet S-10 small pickup, then from 2001-2008 it produced the GMT360 SUVs. The 3rd shift of production was eliminated from Moraine effective in July 2006 following an announcement in November 2005.

On 3 June 2008, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner announced that the Moraine plant would close in December, citing high fuel prices and decreased demand for the SUV and trucks produced by the plant. There were no plans to reconfigure the plant to produce other products. The last vehicle that rolled off the line was a white GMC Envoy.

Workers at the plant in Moraine were given a letter on 3 October 2008, informing them that the plant would close in December. It stated that the final day of production would be 23 December. At that time, the plant employed 2400 people.

Originally, General Motors had planned several shutdown weeks in December. However, Lee said there would be no temporary shutdowns and the plant would operate until December 23. IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said, "IUE-CWA is deeply disappointed in General Motor's refusal to keep the Moraine Assembly plant open. The announcement that the plant will be closed much earlier than initially stated will further hurt our members, their families and a Dayton community already rocked by plant closings and layoffs."

The plant closing was the subject of the HBO short documentary, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant. It was filmed by local directors Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert with the help of several Moraine Assembly workers. In 2010 it was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category. It lost to the documentary Music by Prudence.

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