General Motors on Tuesday idled a plant in Mexico that produces its highly profitable Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, temporarily laying off 6,000 workers.
The automaker said the decision was a result of a parts shortage due to the United Auto Workers union’s strike against GM, now in its 16th day. A GM spokesman said the “primary focus is to get a deal and get everybody back to work” as soon as possible.
GM shares were down more than 3 percent early afternoon after opening Tuesday at $37.47. The stock is up about 8.5 percent for the year.
The Tuesday cuts at GM’s plant in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico bring the number of layoffs for non-UAW represented employees in North America with GM to about 10,000, according to officials.
GM last week confirmed it had idled engine production at the Silao facility last week, temporarily laying off 450 workers. Those cuts were in addition to roughly 3,200 GM manufacturing workers in Canada and 525 hourly employees at the automaker’s jointly operated DMax engine facility in Ohio.
The total number of employees at auto suppliers who have been temporarily laid off by the strike is unknown, but estimated to be in the thousands.