General Motors will temporarily close five factories, including Fairfax, next month as it tries to reduce a growing inventory of cars.
Spokeswoman Dayna Hart says the factories will close anywhere from one to three weeks due to the continuing U.S. market shift toward trucks and SUVs. Just over 10,000 workers will be idled.
The company's Detroit-Hamtramck and Kansas City, Kansas, factories will be shut down for three weeks, while a plant in Lansing, Michigan, will be down for two weeks. Factories in Lordstown, Ohio, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, each will be idled for one week.
Local UAW President Vicki Hale told 41 Action News the shutdown at Fairfax will be during the first three weeks of January. Workers will return on January 23. The shutdown affects approximately 95 percent of workers at the plant.
Hale said workers will receive normal contractual pay during that time.
According to Hale, the Fairfax plant is temporarily closing to prepare for a new vehicle, but GM is not releasing which vehicle that will be.
The factories make just about every car in the General Motors lineup. Last month, almost 62 percent of all U.S. vehicle sales were trucks and SUVs.
------
Follow 41 Action News on Twitter:
Like 41 Action News on Facebook: