The automaker confirmed Wednesday it will add two shifts at the factory, where eventually it will build three high-profile Chevrolets on one line: the electric extended range Volt, the midsize 2013 Malibu and next-generation Impala.
About 1,350 laid-off GM workers will have first recall rights for the job openings.
The rest will be new hires who will earn a second-tier, $14-$16 hourly wage — about half what veteran workers get. Second-tier wages are among the issues the United Auto Workers intends to press in this year's contract negotiations.
The UAW wants higher entry-level wages, Vice President Joe Ashton told reporters at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant Wednesday, reiterating comments made by UAW President Bob King at the union's bargaining convention in Detroit last March.
The union also will seek to bump up lower wage workers more quickly into the better-paid first tier, Ashton said.
But to be competitive, he said, the companies "need the second tier. It is no good making $28, $38 or $48 an hour if you don't have a job."
The auto companies may not be receptive to an entry-level pay increase, said Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor and industry group at the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research.
The second-tier lower wage is keeping the Detroit Big Three's labor costs competitive with the transplant automakers, she said.
GM isn't accepting new applications for the hourly work at this time, but salaried job openings are available at GM's website, said spokeswoman Kim Carpenter.
The automaker will spend $69 million to upgrade the factory, which employs 1,100 and has run on one shift since 2009.
The new Chevy production will mark the end of an era for the plant, which for more than two decades has built mostly Cadillacs and Buicks. GM this month is retiring two full-size cars now built at the plant — the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS.
GM added the Volt to Detroit-Hamtramck last fall, and will boost production of the vehicle after a four-week shutdown in June for retooling. It will begin making the next-generation 2013 Malibu early next year.
The plant will add the second shift in late fall, and the third shift at an unspecified future date.
When Impala production begins, the plant will be running three shifts for the first time.
GM officials declined to stay when the factory would start building the full-size Impala sedan, but stressed it would be an important addition to the Chevy lineup. Now two years in the making, the new full-size Chevy is undergoing a complete redesign.
"The great history of the Cadillac wreath and crest is important," said GM North American President Mark Reuss.
"But our Chevrolet bowtie is where the volume is at," he said, referring to Chevy's iconic logo.
GM hasn't said when the new Impala will go on sale, although it is expected in 2012 or 2013.
The Impala will have front wheel drive, deliver better fuel economy than its predecessor and stand apart from the Malibu in design, Reuss said.
"This next Impala is going to be all of GM's hard work coming together," in styling, technology and fuel economy, said Dave Sullivan, an Ann Arbor-based analyst with AutoPacific Inc.
"Right now, (the Impala) is a rental car special," he added. But GM is going to follow Ford's lead in what it did with the Taurus, and make the Impala its flagship car.
The current generation Impala is built at GM's Oshawa complex in Ontario, where it also makes the Camaro, Equinox and Buick Regal.
GM declined to say Wednesday whether it will continue to build the Impala there.
His union members remain hopeful the market can support production at two plants, Lewenza said.
Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, said GM hasn't indicated its leanings, but it will build the car at the Oshawa plant until 2012.
"Anytime you have two plants manufacturing the same vehicle, there is reason to be nervous," he said.
The hiring at Detroit-Hamtramck will account for a little more than half of the 4,000 jobs GM has said it will keep or preserve by investing $2 billion in 17 U.S. sites in eight states over the next few years.
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