A parts shortage has added two more weeks to the stoppage of work at a General Motors plant near Lansing.
The GM Delta Township assembly plant will be shuttered through Labor Day. GM builds the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse at the facility.
Mike Huerta is president of UAW Local 602. He says his members are eligible for state unemployment benefits during the closure.
“There’s a little bit more anxiety builds up,” Huerta said, “and we wish that we had more information than we do, but it seems that we’re, all of us, management and union, are waiting for more news to find out whether we’re going to have additional parts to be able to work.”
Huerta adds that the missing chips were manufactured in Indiana until 2017. He said, “the rest of the world is dictating when our plant can operate. While we sit here and, seven weeks in, wait for a very cheap part to finish our vehicles, which are top of the line, great American vehicles, we’re waiting on parts of the world that are having COVID outbreaks or having stoppages of their production for whatever reason, we no longer can work either.”
Huerta says nearby auto parts suppliers are also affected by the shortage of computer chips now plaguing automakers.