The second shift of workers at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Arlington will be laid off next week as demand for full-size SUVs remains weak.

Wendi Sabo, plant spokeswoman, said the layoff is also related to a two-month strike by American Axle, a GM supplier. The Arlington plant is coming off a three-week shutdown and consequently has a small supply of axles on hand.

On Monday, the plant's first shift will report to work at 6 a.m. as usual.

The second shift will be laid off the entire week, affecting about half of the plant's 2,400 hourly workers. Second-shift workers will receive 95 percent of their base pay during the layoff.

GM also announced Monday that it is indefinitely suspending the second shift at its full-size SUV plant Janesville, Wis., which will affect up to 1,000 workers.

The plant builds the same general mix of full-size SUVs that Arlington does, but the Arlington plant is ranked higher in efficiency and quality.

If demand for full-size SUVs continues to drop, workers at both plants expect GM to ultimately consolidate all SUV production at one plant – a possibility that officials have not commented on.

"We're happy we have what we've got," said Enrique "JR" Flores Jr., president of UAW Local 276, which represents hourly workers at the Arlington plant.

"We're also saddened about what happened at Janesville. But we understand what is happening out there."