KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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With impending layoffs this November, General Motors Fairfax plant workers and subsequent United Auto Workers Local 31 members are feeling a level of uncertainty.
It’s the opposite of the consistency they feel as regulars at Anna’s BLD Bistro, just five minutes away from the plant.
The co-owner, Angelynn Howell, never misses an update.
"They come in, they tell you all kinds of business,” Howell said with a smile.
She's well aware of the upcoming layoffs at the GM Fairfax plant.
During the strike in 2023, her business wasn’t only just consistent spot for customers, but for KSHB 41 as well. We checked in with her then to talk about the plant’s idle status.
"Our regulars didn’t stop coming in, so it wasn’t really terrible," Howell said.
Nearly 1700 employees will be impacted by the temporary, phased layoffs, which start this November and end in 2026.
It’ll begin as a 6-month layoff from January to July, and then the first shift workers will get phased in after that.
The UAW Local 31 president, Dontay Wilson, says they hope to bring in the second shift by February 2026.
In this Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, file photo, the Chevrolet Bolt EV debuts at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Automakers now say hybrid and electric vehicles perform better than gas-powered vehicles. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
It’s all a result of a $390 million re-tooling so the plant can manufacture the Chevrolet Bolt EV.
The re-tooling has had a ripple effect on other parts suppliers in the area that are also experiencing layoffs or closures.
Howell says a large bulk of their business comes early morning deliveries to these suppliers.
"That 18 months is a long time for employees to be off," Howell said.
Regulars like Wilson filled her in about that.
"The entire community’s going to be affected by this layoff," Wilson said.
So far, his conversation with Local 31 members haven’t been easy, he says.
“It is extremely hard to kind of have that, especially with this timing, and the length that we’re looking at,” Wilson said. “It is not no easy task to kind of navigate.”
Wilson says people are worried about if producing an electric vehicle means less jobs to come back to.
“Of course they are,” Wilson said. “Our hope is to have two products that we’ll be able to manufacture and do that and mitigate some of those concerns. We'll see what the future looks like. Hopefully that's kind of where we stay and we're able to make sure that we got 2,000 people going out on layoff and 2,000 people coming back."
If Howell’s learned one thing about the auto industry, it’s “sporadic,” in her own words. That’s why she’s glad to keep serving up consistency for the time being.
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