KANSAS CITY —The strike by members of the United Auto Workers is expanding to Kansas City.
General Motors announced Wednesday afternoon they are going to stop work at the Fairfax plant in Kansas City due to the walkout at the Wentzville, Missouri plant.
Workers at the Kansas City plant build the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac XT4.
“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 being idled today and most of its represented team members leaving the plant as there is no work available,” according to the statement from the Fairfax plant.
“This is due to a shortage of critical stampings supplied by Wentzville’s stamping operations to Fairfax. The team members at Fairfax are not expected to return until the situation has been resolved. Due to the specific circumstances of this situation, impacted employees are not eligible for company-provided SUB-pay.”
"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, such as in greater Kansas City,” Harvey stated. “What happened to our Fairfax team members is a clear and immediate demonstration of that fact. We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
The UAW is seeking wage increases of more than 30% over four years and other sweeteners. The union says workers deserve a bigger share of record profits that the companies posted as prices rose sharply on strong consumer demand and a limited supply of vehicles because of chip shortages and other issues.
The companies say they can't afford to meet the UAW's demands because they must invest those profits to help them make the transition to electric vehicles.