DETROIT - The parts shortage caused by a weeklong strike by workers at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. has spread to six General Motors Corp. assembly plants, the company said Monday.
GM announced Monday that it would temporarily close factories in Moraine, Ohio, and in Mishawaka, Ind., as the strike continued to spread deeper into GM's operations.
The Moraine factory's 2,170 production workers were told to report to work for training on Tuesday, but it was uncertain how long they would continue coming to work, GM spokesman Tom Wickham said.
The plant near Dayton makes the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Saab 9-7X and Isuzu Ascender mid-sized sport utility vehicles.
The Mishawaka plant in Northwest Indiana, which makes the Hummer H2, will be idled during the midmorning on Tuesday, Wickham said. The plant employs 389 hourly workers.
The closures bring to six the total of factories GM has closed due to a lack of parts made by American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., affecting more than 13,000 hourly workers. The laid-off workers will get most of their pay under their union's contract with GM.
About 3,600 workers represented by the United Auto Workers at five American Axle plants in Michigan and New York went on strike last week in a contract dispute.
American Axle and the UAW haven't returned to the bargaining table since talks broke off on Feb. 25, although both sides have said they're ready to resume negotiations at any time.
American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said Monday afternoon that no talks have been scheduled. The UAW did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The strike at the company, which makes axles, drive shafts and stabilizer bars, began shortly after midnight Tuesday.
Last week, GM, the nation's largest automaker, announced it would temporarily shutter four plants that make full-sized pickup trucks, idling thousands of workers in the U.S. and Canada.
Three of the closures, in Flint, Mich., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Oshawa, Ontario, took place Friday night, on top of the idling of a pickup truck factory in Pontiac on Thursday.
The four plants idled last week make the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-sized pickup trucks.
On the Net:
American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.: http://www.aam.com
General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com
United Auto Workers: http://www.uaw.org
Posted in Business on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 12:00 am Updated: 8:58 pm.
© Copyright 2009, North County Times - Californian, Escondido, CA | Terms of Service and Privacy Policy