WARSAW, Ind. (AP) -- A company that makes conversion vans has laid off about 150 workers because the UAW strike against American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. left it with no Chevrolet or GMC vans to convert.
''It's really a weird situation,'' said Steve Kesler, owner of Explorer Van Co. ''I thought (the strike) would last two or three days. It's gone way beyond what anybody would expect with the current business climate.''
Kesler said 95 percent of the business at his Warsaw plant is dependent on GM vans.
''Without any raw vans from GM, we don't have any vans to work on,'' he said Monday.
The United Auto Workers represents 3,600 workers at American Axle and has been on strike against the company's five U.S. plants for nearly two months. GM is American Axle's largest customer, and the strike has affected 30 GM plants including a handful in Indiana as well as a Hummer plant run by AM General LLC in Mishawaka.
Kesler said his parts and service department and some senior personnel will continue to work, building three to five Explorer Vans a week for Ford, compared with the usual 15 per day. Normally the company produces 3,500 vans a year.
