ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (Fort Wayne's NBC) - An unplanned halt of production will take place next week at Fort Wayne's General Motors Truck Assembly Plant.
The ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips is said to be the culprit.
The disruption starts Monday and is not supposed to last beyond next week.
The shutdown is not a trivial matter, given the fact the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks made at the plant are among the hottest selling products in the automotive business.
The halting of production also applies to a GM plant in Mexico.
Another assembly plant in Flint Michigan will turn out a reduced number of trucks next week, running one shift instead of the normal three.
For months, GM has been stockpiling pickups in parking lots all around Allen County, waiting to install semiconductor chips once they get shipped in.
The tiny transistors made from silicon allow computers, smartphones and other electrical devices to function.
New vehicles rely on them too.
During the pandemic, there has been increased demand for personal electronics such as cellphones and laptops that the chips are used in, and that's one of the big reasons why there has been difficulties in producing enough of them to keep up with consumer demand, including in new cars and trucks.
New COVID-19 infections in foreign countries that make the chips are contributing to bigger chip supply shortages.
Leaders of UAW Local 2209, the union that represents thousands of hourly workers at the Fort Wayne plant, admit the semiconductor chip situation is unsettling, especially if it drags on.
"We don't want to see a shift laid off because the people become free agents and they get offered to go to other plants and they don't really want to, so, we want to make sure everybody stays working here long-term. You know, if we lose a day or so, if we lose a week or so, that's one thing. We start going out three, four, five weeks-- and we don't see that as of today-- but we certainly don't want that to happen," said Rich LeTourneau, Local 2209's bargaining chairman.
LeTourneau says workers idled next week will be eligible for quick unemployment checks, including the extra $300 a week of enhanced unemployment pay.
Also, workers who've got more than one year on at the plant qualify for sub-pay benefits.
The production halt will be in effect, but some smaller amount of semiconductor chips will still apparently stream in during the off week.
GM released a statement that reads in part, "This period will provide us with the opportunity to complete unfinished vehicles at the impacted assembly plants and ship those units to dealers to help meet the strong customer demand for our products."
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July 23, 2021 at 06:17AM
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Local GM truck plant faces one week shutdown; shortage of semiconductor chips blamed for disruption - Fort Wayne's NBC
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