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Auto Workers Hit Picket Lines At GM Plant In Kansas

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The Associated Press

Published: May 6, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Members of a United Auto Workers union local went on strike Monday at General Motors' Fairfax facility - hitting a plant that churns out GM's popular Malibu sedan.

Employees at the plant, which has more than 2,500 UAW members, began streaming out about 9 a.m. and union members picketed in the median of the road.

The Chevrolet Malibu, a medium-sized sedan, was named "Car of the Year" at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The strike hits a key GM product at a time when the company can ill afford it. Last week GM announced that it lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter, due largely to one-time charges and North American losses that offset gains in the rest of the world.

With truck and sport utility vehicle sales dropping, the redesigned 2008 Malibu has been a bright spot for GM.

From January through April, GM sold 58,126 Malibus, up 32 percent from the same period last year. Sales were up 55 percent in April. A strike will crimp production and could hurt GM's profits, although the company makes the Malibu at another factory in Orion Township, Mich. Workers at that plant have approved a local contract.
GM spokesman Dan Flores in Detroit said the company is disappointed that the union chose to walk out.

He said GM will look at boosting Malibu production at the Orion plant.

"As a result of the strike we will be looking at all of our options, but our main focus is to continue the bargaining and reach an agreement as soon as we can," he said.

Jeff Manning, president of the local, said the main issue at Fairfax is that GM wanted to place workers in different jobs on the line regardless of seniority.

"We will not go back without a seniority agreement," Manning said.

A GM plant in Delta Township near Lansing that makes strong-selling crossover vehicles went on strike April 17, and other UAW locals in Wyoming and Warren, Mich., and Mansfield, Ohio, are negotiating and could strike.

Industry analysts have speculated that the UAW is trying to pressure GM to coax American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. into ending a bitter nine-week strike.

GM accounts for 80 percent of American Axle's parts business. About 3,600 UAW workers at five American Axle plants have been on strike since Feb. 26. Negotiations are continuing and progress has been reported.

Manning said the Fairfax strike had "nothing to do with" the Axle walkout.

American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said Monday that negotiators met Sunday and were to talk again Monday. Last week union leaders told members on the picket lines that they were edging closer to an agreement.

The American Axle strike has cut into parts supplies and led to curtailed production at about 30 GM factories.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has said disputes at the GM plants are about local contract issues, not American Axle.

Chester Massbenburg of Lenexa has worked at the Fairfax plant for 31 years and said he was frustrated that the plant stood alone in the strike.

"But we have to stand up for our rights," Massbenburg said. "This is a good company, but sometimes you have to go through these things to get what you deserve."

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