GM plant partially halts production due to strike
A General Motors Corp. plant near Lansing that makes the company’s hot-selling crossovers was partially shut down Wednesday due to a strike at a supplier, calling into question a planned strike later this week by the GM workers.
A GM (GM, Fortune 500) spokesman said workers at the Delta Township plant only worked half a shift Wednesday morning and a second shift was likely to end early Wednesday evening because of a strike at nearby Alliance Interiors.
Alliance Interiors opened in 2006 to supply carpets, acoustic insulation and other products to GM. A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with the company’s personnel manager.
Workers at the GM plant were set to go on a strike of their own Thursday morning over local labor issues. But it was not clear if that strike would happen, since the GM workers might now be temporarily laid off and won’t be able to walk off their jobs. Workers have been told to report for their regular shift Thursday morning. The strike was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
GM spokesman Dan Flores said discussions with local United Auto Workers leaders are continuing. The UAW also represents workers at Alliance Interiors. Messages seeking comment were left with the UAW and UAW Local 602 President Doug Rademacher.
Analysts have speculated that the UAW is trying to pull GM into its ongoing negotiations with American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc., which is a major supplier to GM http://payday-badcredit.com. The UAW has been on strike against American Axle for nearly two months, and more than 30 GM plants have been affected by that strike.
So far, the strike has mainly affected production of GM’s trucks and sport utility vehicles, which were selling slowly anyway. But a strike against the Delta Township plant, which makes the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook, could have a more serious impact. GM has only a 40-day inventory of the Buick Enclave, compared with an inventory of more than 150 days on some large trucks and SUVs when the American Axle strike began, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. A 60-day supply is considered ideal in the industry.
GM has 3,345 hourly workers at the Delta Township plant. If the workers are laid off due to the Alliance Interiors strike, GM would have to pay them, but they would be paid by the UAW if they went on strike.
Workers get $200 a week from the UAW if they are on strike, but they get around 80% of their pay if they are laid off.
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