Strike At Auto Parts Supplier Stops Work At A G.M. Plant

DETROIT — General Motors halted production at one of its pickup truck plants Thursday afternoon when it ran out of some parts because the workers who make them are on strike.

There are no signs that the three-day-old strike at the parts supplier, American Axle and Manufacturing, is near an end, meaning that G.M. could be forced to idle other factories in the coming days. No talks have been held or scheduled since the United Automobile Workers union sent 3,650 workers in Michigan and New York to the picket lines at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

G.M. closed its truck plant in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac after Thursday’s first shift, putting 2,500 workers on temporary layoff. Analysts say that at least eight of the automaker’s factories may soon run out of parts if the strike continues. G.M. officials would not discuss any additional actions they might take.

“We’re not going to speculate on the duration of the Pontiac shutdown or what other facilities will be affected,” said a company spokesman, Tom Wickham.

The plant in Pontiac is one of five that build the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, two of G.M.’s newest and most profitable models. A brief halt in production of the trucks is not expected to cause any shortages, as high gas prices and a weak economy have left G.M. dealers with about five months’ inventory.

“Even if there wasn’t a strike, my bet is that they would have had to idle some of those plants for a while anyway to bring those inventories down to more manageable levels,” said Erich Merkle, vice president for auto industry forecasting at the consulting firm IRN in Grand Rapids, Mich. “But if this thing drags on, and those plants are down for four weeks, you start getting into some real problems.”

G.M. is American Axle’s largest customer, accounting for nearly 80 percent of its business. Chrysler also buys a large number of axles and other parts from the company, and its inventories are also high.

American Axle wants to cut workers’ wages by as much as half and eliminate retirement benefits. The company has been profitable, though only slightly, but says it cannot compete with rivals that now pay considerably less for labor.

Strike Closes Canadian Plant

The Canadian Auto Workers called a strike on Thursday at a TRW Automotive Holdings plant in Windsor, Ontario, forcing the idling of a nearby Chrysler plant that assembles the automaker’s top-selling minivans.

Chrysler suspended work at its Windsor Assembly plant about 6 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday and canceled overnight and Friday morning shifts at the plant, which employs about 4,400 hourly workers.

The Windsor Assembly Plant makes the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan, a pair of redesigned minivans that Chrysler needs to hold its own in a slumping auto market.

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