General Motors has halted production at three plants in Silao, Mexico, temporarily laying off about 6,000 workers there because of a parts shortage caused by the UAW's strike against the automaker in the U.S.
GM on Tuesday idled the Silao assembly plant, which builds light-duty full-size pickups, and the transmission plant that supports it, GM spokesman Dan Flores told Automotive News.
Last week, GM shut its engine plant in Silao, which produces 6.0-liter V-8s for commercial vehicles built at U.S. factories, Flores said.
GM's two other assembly plants in Mexico — it makes the Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Terrain in Ramos Arizpe and the Chevy Equinox and Trax in San Luis Potosi — are still running. Flores said the company does not expect production at those plants to be affected by the strike.
More than 46,000 hourly workers at GM plants in the U.S. have been on strike since Sept. 16 after the automaker and UAW failed to reach a new labor agreement before their previous contract expired.
Some GM suppliers in the U.S. and the DMax plant in Ohio, a joint venture between GM and Isuzu where workers are not part of the UAW, have also made temporary layoffs and slowed production because of the strike.
