Reno auto parts center among facilities affected by UAW strike

The United Auto Workers on Friday expanded its historic strike against the Detroit Three automakers, this time hitting 38 General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV parts distribution centers across the country.

The strike stands to shut down the two automakers' network of facilities that store and ship parts for dealers for sale to consumers and use in repair work.

The 38 plants is an eye-popping number, but it likely will have minimal effect on production, said Sheldon Klein, who represents auto suppliers for law firm Butzel Long.

"The aftermarket is the tail," he said. "The production operations is the dog. The impact on the companies is not as great as 38 plants suggests.

"As long as it doesn’t affect auto assembly, the impact on suppliers is limited at best. Suppliers don’t have to shut down their plants because they are not able to ship replacement headlights."

Economic impact

In the first week, the strike has resulted in an economic loss of more than $1.6 billion, according to estimates from East Lansing consulting firm Anderson Economic Group LLC, which has done business for GM and Ford.

The losses have been concentrated in Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana and Alabama from the walkouts and layoffs. A longer strike, according to the researchers, would spread losses to assembly and supplier plants as well as dealers across the country.

“Because the auto industry is highly integrated across suppliers and assembly plants, shutting down one plant will cause layoffs and shutdowns at other plants,” CEO Patrick Anderson said in a statement. “That includes supplier businesses, especially those that are dependent on a handful of contracts with the OEMs.”

The losses include to $107 million in lost direct wages and $511 million in company losses, according to the report. The industry economic loss, including at suppliers, is $1.174 billion. Industry consumer and dealer losses represent $470 million. The strike is expected to affect customer selection sooner than in the past, AEG Vice President Tyler Theile said in a statement

“Consumers and dealers are somewhat insulated in a very short strike,” she said. “However, with current inventories hovering around only 55 days, the industry looks different than it did for the last UAW strike. In fact, automakers have only about one-fifth of the inventory they had in 2019.”

The new facilities being struck

The UAW has tapped some 5,600 workers at 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers across the country to go on strike, effective noon Friday.

The Stellantis facilities, according to the UAW, include:

—Marysville in Marysville, Michigan

—Centerline Packaging in Center Line, Michigan

—Centerline Warehouse in Center Line, Michigan

—Sherwood in Warren, Michigan

—Warren Parts in Warren, Michigan

—QEC in Auburn Hills, Michigan

—Romulus in Romulus, Michigan

—Cleveland in Streetsboro, Ohio

—Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

—Minneapolis in Plymouth, Minnesota

—Denver in Commerce City, Colorado

—Chicago in Naperville, Illinois

—Los Angeles in Ontario, California

—Portland in Beaverton, Oregon

—Atlanta in Morrow, Georgia

—Winchester in Winchester, Virginia

—Orlando in Orlando, Florida

—Dallas in Carrollton, Texas

—New York in Tappan, New York

—Boston in Mansfield, Massachusetts

The GM facilities include:

—Pontiac Redistribution in Pontiac, Michigan

—Willow Run Redistribution in Belleville, Michigan

—Ypsilanti Processing Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan

—Davidson Road Processing Center in Burton, Michigan

—Flint Processing Center in Swartz Creek, Michigan

—Lansing Redistribution in Lansing, Michigan

—Cincinnati Parts Distribution in Westchester, Ohio

—Denver Parts Distribution in Aurora, Colorado

—Hudson Parts Distribution in Hudson, Wisconsin

—Chicago Parts Distribution in Bolingbrook, Illinois

—Reno Parts Distribution Center in Reno, Nevada

—Rancho Cucamonga Parts Distribution in Rancho Cucamonga, California

—Ford Worth Parts Distribution in Roanoke, Texas

—Martinsburg Parts Distribution in Martinsburg, West Virginia

—Jackson Parts Distribution in Brandon, Mississippi

—Charlotte Parts Distribution in Charlotte, North Carolina

—Memphis AC Delco Parts Distribution in Memphis, Tennessee

—Philadelphia Parts Distribution in Lang Horne, Pennsylvania