Amid Temporary Layoffs at GM Fairfax Plant, UAW Local 31 Raises $6K for KC Families

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — United Auto Workers Local 31 held its seventh annual basketball tournament for adopted families at Hy-Vee Arena on Saturday to help local Kansas City families in need this holiday season.

Amid temporary layoffs at the General Motors plant in Fairfax, the union raised more than $6,000 for the Adopt-A-Family program.

“We invite families a little less fortunate than ours and give them Christmas,” said UAW Local 31 President Dontay Wilson.

The union said the basketball tournament is a way to give back to Kansas City.

“This community supported us when we were on strike,” Wilson said.

Cimenta James and about 1,000 other General Motors Fairfax workers were temporarily laid off about two weeks ago, according to UAW Local 31.

Brian Luton/KSHB

“This is my third time being fired from GM, so I mean, I’ve had my ups and downs,” she said.

Wilson said that despite all the obstacles and difficulties associated with layoffs, the tournament shows the union’s resilience.

Brian Luton/KSHB

“We just all get together over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend because that’s when we all relax, right? So, these are union-agreed holidays,” he said.

James said she wasn’t too concerned about the layoffs.

“As long as we have a date to return to the plant, I’m fine with that,” she said.

Instead, she thinks about her work colleagues.

“You have to think about people who have families and stuff like that, well, I’m, I’m single, so I’m alone,” she said. “For families, they are likely to struggle with money issues.”

James was a team leader at Fairfax.

“Brothers and sisters of the UAW, we will work together to make sure everyone is okay,” she said.

Temporary phased layoffs began in November and are expected to end in 2026. It is estimated that about 1,700 workers at the Fairfax plant will be affected.

KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.

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