General Motors warned employees that it may temporarily suspend operations at its Fairfax Assembly and Stamping plant in Kansas City, Kansas, due to parts shortages caused by an ongoing strike at GM’s Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri. The Detroit News reported the plans Friday, citing a notice to GM employees.
"Due to the strike’s impact on Wentzville operations, we anticipate running out of parts for Fairfax as soon as early next week," GM said in the notice. "The parts situation is fluid, and we are actively managing the situation."
GM’s Wentzville factory, which has over 4,100 employees, supplies the Fairfax Assembly plant with stamped body parts. The Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac XT4 SUV are assembled at Fairfax.
“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,” the company said in a statement to The Detroit News.
If Fairfax Assembly shuts down without workers at that plant striking, it may validate the UAW’s “stand-up” strike approach. Rather than carry out a full work stoppage, the UAW targeted specific facilities to disrupt manufacturing operations and allow the union to weather a longer strike as it pressures automakers to make a deal.
The UAW hopes the roving, surprising strikes will “keep the companies guessing,” UAW President Shawn Fain said Thursday.
The Wentzville Assembly plant was one of the three facilities targeted by the UAW, with the union also directing its members to strike at Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant and the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex. Depending on how the negotiations proceed, the UAW plans to ask specific local chapters to strike rather than all of them at once.
