How will the United Auto Workers strike against General Motors affect the west Michigan economy? Director of supply management research at Grand Valley State University Brian Long tells WSJM News this side of the state does have several tier-one suppliers of the big automakers.
“Some of our companies are supplying General Motors, but for most of them, it’s just a percentage of their output,” Long said.
Long says as a result, they’re not hurting too much. West Michigan auto suppliers learned from previous strikes and downturns not to put all their eggs in one basket.
“We have a lot of our plants that have diversified their customer base. At one time, we had companies that only supplied GM or only supplied Ford, and after the last fiasco, most of them were smart enough to say, ‘We’ve got to diversify out business.’”
Long says if the strike at GM continues for long enough, then it could lead to some temporary layoffs in west Michigan, but for now, it’s not causing major problems. As for how long that strike will continue, he says much depends on the personalities, also noting the striking workers are already hurting with their health benefits affected.
