Michigan fire idles work on Cruze

By Kristen Russo | March 4, 2011 at 12:01a.m.

Jim Graham

LORDSTOWN

A fire in a Michigan manufacturing plant is bringing production at General Motors’ Lordstown plant to a screeching halt.

The fire broke out in Magna International’s plant in Howell, Mich., which manufactures headliners for the Chevrolet Cruze.

A headliner is the fabric lining attached to a vehicle’s interior roof.

Production at the Lordstown plant will cease at 7 a.m. today, according to a press release issued Thursday afternoon.

Tom Mock, spokesman for the Lordstown plant, said he doesn’t know when the supplier will begin making shipments or when Lords-town production will resume.

“Right now, it’s something we have to monitor,” Mock said.

Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which

represents workers at the Lordstown plant, said the supplier is in the process of clearing out the burned building. Graham predicted it might begin producing headliners sometime next week, though he couldn’t be certain.

“It’s an hour-by-hour thing,” Graham said.

A statement from GM’s corporate headquarters said employee wages would be handled according to the company’s agreement with the UAW.

Depending on when shipments resume, employees might receive temporary-layoff or short-workweek benefits, according to the statement.

GM spokeswoman Kimberly Carpenter said a temporary layoff would occur if the plant shuts down for a week or more. A short workweek would occur if workers are unable to complete 40 hours in a week.

Production at six other GM plants also are impacted by the fire, according to the statement.

Those facilities are: the Arlington plant in Arlington, Texas; the Detroit-Hamtramck plant in Detroit, Mich.; the Lansing Delta Township plant in Lansing, Mich.; the Flint plant in Flint, Mich.; the Fort Wayne plant in Fort Wayne, Ind.; and the Oshawa Consolidated plant in Canada.

Magna Exteriors and Interiors did not return a call seeking comment.