During the evening of Wednesday, April 16 hourly United Auto Workers union members went on strike at the Alliance interiors plant in Lansing, Michigan forcing General Motors to halt production work on its popular crossovers assembled at a nearby plant.

Approximately 65 members of the UAW walked off at 9 p.m. according to a report in Automotive News. A representative of the group speaking to the publication said, "We'd been at the negotiating table with Alliance since May 29, 2007 and still did not have a fair and equitable offer. They would meet with us once every three weeks and I was done playing that game."

The plant makes carpet for the interiors of the Saturn Outlook, the Buick Enclave, and the GMC Acadia, crossovers built at the GM Delta Township facility in Lansing. The company kept the plant idle through the initial shift on Thursday, the 17th although the second shift was scheduled to begin as planned and first shift workers were to report to work on the 18th.

The same union source said, "There's still carpet coming out of the Alliance facility and it's being produced by management," adding that "scab" truckers were delivering the material and issues of quality were a consideration.

Existing inventories for the GMC Acadia will last approximately 57 days, of the Buick Enclave 40 days, and of the Saturn Outlook 101 days should the union action prove to be long term.