May 12 (Reuters) - A General Motors ( GM ) joint-venture

battery company is bringing a small number of workers back to an

idled electric-vehicle battery factory in Ohio this month,

although plans for recalling hundreds of laid-off workers there

remain uncertain.

GM and its partner on the factory, South Korea's LG Energy

Solution, in January idled the facility for six

months in response to weak demand for electric vehicles. That

put the timeline for the return of about 850 workers sometime in

June.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the joint-venture Ultium

Cells would not confirm to Reuters any schedule to resume

broader operations at the Warren, Ohio, factory.

In a statement, Ultium said a "small number" of workers

would return the week of May 25 for work "related to resuming

operations later this year," adding that the timing for resuming

production would depend on market demand for EVs.

GM and other automakers pulled back on EV manufacturing

following the expiration of a $7,500 federal tax credit in late

September. While automakers continue to build and sell

electrics, they have lowered their factory output to match

Americans' appetite for EVs.

The Ohio plant had about 1,330 workers as of October, when

Ultium announced the January halt of production in Ohio and at a

second battery plant in Tennessee. About 480 employees from the

Ohio facility were laid off indefinitely, while 850 have been

out of work since January.

On Friday, local media reported that company officials said

they hope demand improves by the third quarter.

GM and LG called back hundreds of workers at the Tennessee

Ultium plant to make battery cells for energy storage systems

instead of EVs.