The auto industry is an important part of Missouri’s economy, with a Ford Assembly plant in Claycomo, near Kansas City; a General Motors plant in Wentzville, near St. Louis; and a Chrysler facility in Fenton, also near St. Louis. And, the United Auto Workers’ union is concerned those operations could be affected by legislation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, raising Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency – or CAFE – standards.
Darin Gilley, President of UAW local 1760 in Pacific, Missouri, is closely watching two CAFE bills in the Nation’s Capital – one in the Senate and the other in the House.
Gilley says the union favors increased CAFE standards, but not the Senate version, which he says would be bad for American automakers. Gilley prefers the House version, which will be taken up next month, because it differentiates between cars and trucks. It would still require 35 miles per gallon for cars, but only 32 for trucks, and implementation would not take place until 2022, instead of 2018.