Supplier fire causes FCA to idle minivan, Jeep plants

Supplier fire causes FCA to idle minivan, Jeep plants

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will idle two important plants next week due to a parts shortage caused by a fire at one of its auto suppliers.

Officials with both Unifor and United Auto Workers on Friday said the automaker plans to idle the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario from Monday through Thursday, as well as the Toledo Assembly Complex’s North plant in Ohio on Monday.

The company confirmed the idling but declined to comment on the parts or supplier that caused the shortage.

“FCA US will continue monitoring recovery efforts and evaluate future production actions later this week,” the company said in a statement.

The shortage will put nearly all of the 5,700 hourly Unifor members who daily produce about 1,500 Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans during three shifts on temporary layoff. Workers are expected back Monday, as Friday is a holiday for Remembrance Day in Canada.

If the automaker can get the facility “up and going” earlier than Thursday it will do so, according to Dino Chiodo, president of Unifor Local 444, which represents the plant’s workers.

An unspecified amount of the UAW’s more than 4,800 hourly workers who produce the Jeep Cherokee at the Toledo Assembly Complex, which consists of two plants (Supplier Park, North), will be not working on Monday. They are scheduled to return Wednesday, following a union holiday for Election Day.

It’s likely the shortage was caused by auto supplier Magneti Marelli, a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler.

A fire reportedly destroyed a Magneti Marelli warehouse on Tuesday in Tennessee. A spokesperson with that company was not immediately available for comment.