GM Fairfax Assembly Plant Could Go Down This Week Because Of Wentzville Plant Strike
4
Sponsored Links
Following the start of the Stand Up Strike by the UAW at the GM Wentzville plant in Missouri on the morning of Friday, September 15th, General Motors has stated that the lack of parts production there could shut down the GM Fairfax plant in Kansas as soon as this week.
A GM employee notice also noted the automaker has “no provisions” to give supplemental pay to Fairfax workers now that the UAW contract has lapsed, The Detroit News reports.
GM expanded on the theme in another communication, stating that the “strike at Wentzville Assembly has already had a negative ripple effect” since the factory normally produces the stamped parts needed to build the Cadillac XT4 and Chevy Malibu sedan on the Fairfax facility’s assembly lines.
The General further remarked that “the parts situation is fluid,” adding that “we anticipate running out of parts for Fairfax as soon as early next week.” Absent a supply of the necessary XT4 and Malibu components, Fairfax Assembly and its 2,000 workers will be idled in the coming days.
The production halt of the two models will come on top of the production stoppage of the Chevy Colorado and the GMC Canyon pickup trucks and the Chevy Express and the GMC Savana commercial vans at Wentzville itself.
Immediately before the Stand Up Strike, GM made a final attempt at averting the situation by offering a 20 percent pay raise over the course of the next four-year UAW contract, with a 10 percent hike during the first-year hike, among benefits. The automaker’s offer was higher than its previously proposed 16 percent wage increase, which UAW president Shawn Fain dismissed as “insulting.”
The United Auto Workers union also showed some willingness to give ground, reducing its demands from a 46 percent pay increase over four years to 36 percent, per certain sources. However, the drop to 20 percent was apparently too much for the UAW to stomach, since it rejected the GM offer and began the strike instead.
The “ripple effect” of the looming Fairfax Assembly shutdown resembles the effects of the bottleneck strike strategy some had speculatively predicted a week ago. The bottleneck strategy halts production at some facilities, which in turn halts production at others without actually needing to strike there.
Bottleneck strikes apply pressure to GM, Ford, and Stellantis while conserving the UAW’s strike pay funds, enabling the strikes to continue longer if necessary. UAW’s Fain also indicated the union will use the threat of additional strikes at individual plants to apply more leverage in negotiations, giving the union the most mileage out of its unprecedented triple strike across the Big Three.
Legislative chair of Wentzville UAW Local 2250 Glenn Kage said the union members are “confident that we’ll be able to fulfill the obligations of the international union by holding our lines” and remarked that “we know that they have the money to pay us for a fair and equitable contract.”
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM-related UAW news, GM Fairfax plant news, GM business news, GM production news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Sponsored Links
With significant job losses on the horizon the union believes it has nothing to lose. I hope the executives understand this.
Shut it down
Each 5% increment is about 100M hit to top profits.
5%=1.45/hr x2040 hours x 35,000 GM UAW employees
Rough math but close yes you need to add payroll taxes in to that formula- GM states only 18hrs of factory labor to build a car today. At 60/hr that is 1176$- a whopping 2% of the cost of a vehicle- for their math a 20% raise in vehicle labor cost 220$. Since last wage hike for UAW vehicle prices up 35% or more- wages up 2$/hour(8%)
Hope automakers extend this whiners strike to complete bankruptcy for every cry croc teared uaw piece of garbage. They are lazy , overpaid whining garbage collectors trying to bully companies into disastrous situation. Hope these garbage collectors lose everything they own .