Talks resume at striking GM plant in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Workers at a General Motors Corp. plant that assembles the popular Chevrolet Malibu remained off the job for a second day Tuesday as negotiators resumed talks aimed at ending the walkout.
More than 2,500 union workers stayed off the assembly lines at the Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan. United Auto Workers Local 31 went on strike Monday morning after negotiations for a local contract failed.
Union leaders said the company's disregard for seniority in awarding jobs at the plant is the main obstacle to gaining a local contract, which would supplement the national contract GM hourly employees approved in October.
Representatives for the union and GM returned to the bargaining table Tuesday and spent most of the day trying to resolve their differences, said local president Jeff Manning.
"Hopefully that will continue ... until we reach an agreement," Manning said. The two sides were expected to meet again Wednesday.
A lengthy strike could hurt GM because the Fairfax plant makes the Malibu, a redesigned medium-sized sedan that has seen sales increase 32 percent through the first four months of the year from the same period a year ago. Sales were up 55 percent in April alone.
GM also is dealing with a strike at its Delta Township plant near Lansing, Mich., and is negotiating with UAW locals in Warren, Mich.; Mansfield, Ohio; and Wyoming.
Auto industry experts say GM needs to resolve the strikes quickly because the company has, in some cases, less than half the optimal inventory of Malibus and large crossover vehicles.
GM spokesman Dan Flores said the company continued to review the possibility of ramping up production of Malibus at its Orion Township, Mich., plant but said that would not make up for the loss of Fairfax and would reduce production of its popular Pontiac G6 mid-sized car, which also is made at Orion.
"Our main focus is on resolving the dispute at Fairfax," Flores said, characterizing the resumption of negotiations there as "encouraging."
The union work force at Fairfax has generally gotten along with GM, Manning said, with the last local strike occurring in 1972. The local joined a national two-day strike in August.
