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All shifts resume at Delta Township GM plant after Ambassador Bridge disruption

General Motors Lansing Delta Township plant Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 8175 Millett Hwy. in Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors)
John F. Martin/John F. Martin For General Motor / John F. Martin
General Motors Lansing Delta Township plant Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 8175 Millett Hwy. in Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors)

All shifts are resuming Friday at the General Motors plant in Delta Township just outside Lansing.

That’s after the automaker cancelled some this week amid a parts shortage exacerbated by a protest at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Canada.

Truckers upset over Canadian vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions have been impeding traffic there for days.

The brief pause comes on the heels of an 11-week shutdown at the plant last year because of a crunch in the global supply of semiconductors.

UAW Local President Mike Huerta say the disruptions expose the need to make more parts domestically.

“If these parts were made right here in Lansing, right here in Michigan, or in the United States, we wouldn't be worried about north of the border, south of the border, east of the border or west of the border.”

Huerta says he’s relieved this week’s slowdown has been brief.

“That's a pretty short-lived break for us. So that's okay. But, you know, the, the not knowing is part of the problem.”

A global shortage of semiconductors caused the plant to shut down for eleven weeks last year.

A GM spokeswoman says about 2,000 Delta Township employees were affected by the shift cancellations earlier this week.