NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's an unprecedented strike with impacts potentially reaching right here in the mid-state.
At the end of the first full day of the UAW strike, experts say depending on how long the strike goes, it could affect folks far beyond the GM plant in Spring Hill.
The first phase of the strike has involved final assembly plants at each of the big three automakers.
But Lipscomb University professor Andrew Borchers says that's likely not where the strike will end.
"For each of these car companies, if the union strikes one or two of their engine, transmission or stamping plants, they can shut down production for all North America for that company," Borchers said.
Borchers says targeting just a few plants that make car parts earlier in the production line would multiply the strike's effect, potentially crippling all U.S. big-three car production.
That's because targeting a plant that makes, for example, engines, stops those engines from going to any of several assembly plants that rely on them, including GM's final assembly plant in Spring Hill.
"In fact, the workers at Spring Hill could easily be furloughed if the upstream engine or transmission plant shuts down because of the strike, the downstream plants are going to be affected, and probably within about a week," Borchers said.
And Borchers says the impact could spread beyond just union workers at the GM plant, to non-union workers in Spring Hill.
"The economies in those local areas will be severely affected because for every job on the assembly line, there are 5-6 jobs in the surrounding parts plants that will be affected," Borchers said.
All things to keep in mind with a strike that at least for now, shows no end in sight.
