GM

A sprawling General Motors assembly plant near Youngstown, Ohio, will be idled March 6 after more than 50 years producing cars and other vehicles, a move that will eliminate nearly 1,700 hourly positions by month’s end.

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union is accusing General Motors of violating a national contract by using temporary workers instead of employing full-timers who were laid off from its factories.

GM Cruise is running neck-and-neck with Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, to be first to bring fully autonomous cars to market. The two companies are considered the leaders in a crowded field, and San Francisco is the proving grounds to refine the technology.

General Motors Co. shot down speculation that it’ll spin off its business units working on self-driving vehicles and car-sharing, which one analyst has estimated could be worth as much as $30 billion.