GM Plant Postpones Overtime Shift So Lions Fans Can Watch All Of The NFC Championship Game

Credit General Motors (GM) for being in touch with their 1,500 employees, most of whom are Lions fans.

Detroit travels to San Francisco on Sunday to take on the 49ers in the NFC Championship game. It marks the first time the Lions have made it to this stage in the playoffs since 1991.

Yes, I’m talking about the Detroit Lions, the team that has been the punchline for every NFL-related joke for more than three decades. They’ve been so bad for so long that there are some fans in Michigan who turned 30 before this season started - and still hadn’t seen their team win a playoff game. The New England Patriots had three times as many Super Bowl wins (six) as Detroit had playoff appearances in the past 23 years (two).

Some Fans Almost Had To Miss Some Of The Game Because Of Work

So naturally, fans in Michigan are buzzing about this once in a lifetime opportunity. As such, they’ll want to plop themselves in front of a TV for the entirety of this battle with the 49ers.

But there’s a slight problem for the Detroit faithful who work the third shift at the GM plant in Flint, MI. The general assembly workers typically begin an 8-hour shift at 10 p.m., and GM has an overtime shift scheduled for Sunday night. Meanwhile, the NFC Championship game stars at 6:30, which would force fans to leave their homes early to get to their shift.

That’s a huge problem for Lions Nation, but it’s one GM solved in the best way possible.

One employee who plans on working this shift posted an automated text the workers received from GM. The employer said that anyone working that overtime shift can come in an hour late so they don’t have to miss a second of the game. The Body and Paint department got an adjustment as well.

The employee who posted this said “In my 13+ years at GM I've never seen a postponement to start the week...even 2 feet of snow wouldn't do it lol. This is for the city! Go Lions!”

GM Knew Lions Fans Would Prioritize The Game Over Work, As They Should

GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said he and the higher-ups knew that the employees would want to soak in this experience as much as possible, so this was the only correct decision to make in this situation.

"We know this is a rare moment in Detroit sports history and we want our team to savor the moment, while still assuring we’re providing our customers and dealers with the trucks they need," Kelly said.

UAW Local 598 Shop Chairman Eric Welter said that his employees couldn’t care less about the chance to earn a little extra cash, since you can’t put a price tag on watching this experience for the Lions.

"They don’t want to work it anyhow, so no one is complaining about losing the hour’s pay," Welter said. "It’s not an hour of their regular 40 hours, it’s their overtime, so they’ll make it up somewhere else."

The company also knew that if GM didn’t do anything to adjust their schedule for the game, most of the workers would have prioritized the game over work - a reasonable decision quite honestly.

"They were asking me to do something up to it because they want to watch the game, but still make it to work and if it's a buzzer-beater, they wanted to see the end of the game, but not miss work," Welter said. "GM recognizes that this hasn't happened in so long that people are likely not to come to work and that gives them a bigger problem."

I’m sure the nearly 2,000 employees who work the graveyard shift appreciate their bosses showing a little more perspective than just the bottom line. Some people have waited their whole lives for something like this.

Enjoy the game to the fullest, Lions fans. After all your loyalty, you deserve it.

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