UAW strikes GM’s Kansas City plant

Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

The United Auto Workers has launched a strike against a General Motors Corp. factory in Kansas City, Kans. that produces the hot-selling Chevrolet Malibu, arguably the automaker’s most critical vehicle on the market.

The union and automaker had been in negotiations over a plant-level contract. The UAW threatened a strike last month, but agreed to continue negotiating past the deadline.

Workers walked off the job at 10 a.m. today, according to a person who answered the phone at UAW Local 31, which represents workers at the plant.

GM hoped to avoid a strike at the Fairfax assembly plant, which is one of two U.S. factories that have been scrambling to keep up with demand for the well-received four-door.

The automaker is still in negotiations with UAW locals in Warren, Grand Rapids and Mansfield, Ohio, that agreed to negotiate through strike deadlines set last month.

GM’s Delta Township factory near Lansing that makes the automaker’s successful crossover SUVs has been on strike since April 17.

The automaker may have some room to shuffle production. GM also builds the Malibu at its Orion plant alongside the Pontiac G6. That plant already has a local contract in place, so a strike is highly unlikely.