LANSING, Mich. – The UAW union expanded its 14-day strike against two of the Detroit Big Three automakers.
The union is now asking for an additional 7,000 members at Ford’s assembly plant in Chicago and a General Motors factory in Lansing.
Stellantis was spared in this round, as UAW President Shawn Fain said there’s been progress with the automaker.
At 12 p.m., Friday (Sept. 29) afternoon, Local 4 was there as workers at GM’s Lansing assembly plant walked off the job.
Every week it’s been like, is it going to be us, is it going to be somebody else, you never really know,” said UAW Local 602 member Ashley Wynn. “When he (Shawn Fain) said it, my breath was taken away like, all right, it’s time to stand up.”
“We were excited to stand up and support our brothers and sisters that are already out in the strike,” said Ryan Eding, shop chair of UAW Local 602.
While their plant was just called on Friday to join the targeted strike, people like Wynn have not been just sitting and waiting for their turn.
“I’m part of Genesee County CLUW (Coalition of Labor Union Women), which is a coalition of union women,” Wynn said. “So we got together and went to go show our support over at the Davison Road location last night.”
Strike pay is $500 a week, but workers believe being on the picket line is more significant than that.
“To send a message that we’re willing to stand up one day longer than they (the Big Three) are,” Eding said. “It’s time for the working class to get what they deserve, and I’m proud to be a UAW member.”
Wynn’s husband, Isaiah Fuller, is Vice President of UAW Local 602, so both of their incomes will be cut down for however long the strike will go on for.
“It’s worth the sacrifice,” said Fuller. “The sacrifice is just in this moment. It’s just because of what happens in the long run. If it benefits us, it’s going to benefit our entire families, and it’s going to benefit the middle class.”
Whenever a driver honks as they go by or a stranger stops by to bring picketers food, they are reminded they are not just picketing for themselves.
“They understand that we support them, we make better wages, money goes back into the community whether it’s a dealership to actually afford the cars that we make, to come out to eat, come down here for lunch, it’s a community effort,” Wynn said.
“It’s exciting the community is behind us because they know it’s just not about the UAW, the big three,” Eding said. “It’s about everybody in the middle class trying to make a living.”
More: UAW adds 2 plants, 7K workers to auto strike, says negotiations are ongoing