An increasingly bitter month-long strike at components maker American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings could widen to a second General Motors car plant in Michigan next week, the Associated Press reported last night.
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A union official had said earlier it was likely the Lordstown, Ohio, plant making the Chevrolet Cobalt would likely stop production by 4 April due to a shortage of brake components.
AP noted the strike has already fully or partially shut down 28 GM factories in the US and Canada due to parts shortages.
Previously the strike had affected only plants that assemble or supply parts for slow-selling pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, but a person familiar with GM’s production on Thursday told the news agency that it could shut down the Detroit-Hamtramck car assembly plant as early as next week.
The Lordstown complex near Youngstown makes the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 small cars while Detroit-Hamtramck makes the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS, AP said.
The news agency noted that the Cobalt [which replaced the long-running Cavalier a couple of years ago], gets up to 33 miles per gallon of petrol in highway driving and consequently has sold well in North America of late. To the end of February, its sales were up 43.5% year on year.
About 3,600 UAW workers at five American Axle plants in Michigan and New York went on strike on 26 February over a wage and benefit dispute.
