UAW Strike Impact on General Motors and Ford
The UAW targeted Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant for a strike on Friday. The walkout is triggering another 600 layoffs at the complex west of Detroit.
General Motors and Ford Motor Co. Affected by UAW Strike
General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have announced that the UAW strike, which began on Friday morning, will have an impact on their operations.
GM stated that it expects to temporarily shut down its Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas early next week due to a shortage of stampings made at the Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri, which went on strike on Friday.
Ford also revealed that around 600 workers at its Michigan Assembly plant near Detroit were instructed not to come to work on Friday due to the effects of the strike. This includes employees in the body construction department and south sub-assembly area of the integrated stamping operation, according to Ford.
“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy will have knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage. In this case, the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments has directly impacted the operations in other parts of the facility,” stated a Ford spokesperson.
“This is not a lockout,” the statement clarified. “This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection. E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike.”
GM informed its employees on Friday that its Fairfax assembly operation, responsible for building the Cadillac XT4 compact crossover and Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan, could run out of parts as early as next week.
“It is unfortunate that the UAW leadership’s decision to call a strike at Wentzville Assembly has already had a negative ripple effect, with GM’s Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas and its 2,000 team members expected to be idled as soon as early next week,” GM stated.
“We are working under an expired agreement at Fairfax. Unfortunately, there are no provisions that allow for company-provided SUB-pay in this circumstance,” GM added. “We have said repeatedly that nobody wins in a strike, and that effects go well beyond our employees on the plant floor and negatively impact our customers, suppliers, and the communities where we do business. What happened to our Fairfax team members is a clear and immediate demonstration of that fact.”
The UAW could not be reached for comment on Friday.
