GM's Tonawanda plant in Buffalo makes four- and five-cylinder engines for the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact pickups, which are assembled at a GM plant in Shreveport, La. GM has shut down the Shreveport plant this week because of a shortage of parts from Japan.

GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter Carpenter said Tonawanda has the parts it needs to make the engines, but it's not producing the engines because Shreveport doesn't need them.

She said GM doesn't know when production will resume at either plant.

Carpenter said 59 of the 623 workers at the engine plant will be affected. Workers will get around 75 percent of their pay while they're laid off.