Negotiations continue after UAW strike expansion to other plants

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Negotiations between the Detroit Three and the United Auto Workers continue on day nine of a targeted plant strike — one day after the union sent all workers at General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV parts plants nationwide to picket lines.

UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday expanded the union’s strike, adding 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers. The move added 5,600 workers at those facilities, which span 20 states, to the 12,700 other Detroit Three workers who remain on strike at three assembly plants run by GM, Stellantis and Ford Motor Co. The union spared Ford in adding more plants to the strike since it made more progress in talks with the Dearborn automaker.

The union is pushing for significant wage increases, an end to a tiered-wage scale, cost-of-living increases and other demands.

One of the plants added to the target list is GM’s processing center in Ypsilanti, where 161 people work. On Saturday, a handful of employees from first shift sat in the sun beside a red tent on their first full day of striking.

The 413,00-square-foot center on Tyler Road in Ypsilanti processes an estimated 6.6 million parts each month, according to GM.

“We just passed Wendy’s on the way here with a sign to start at $16.50 an hour, making the same amount we’re making and that’s unacceptable, especially as inflation is going up daily,” said Latrice Dukes, a processing technician who started 60 days ago. “How is it we are making GM cars we can’t even afford?”

The UAW Local 174 members showed off bruises on their arms from this past week of work. They said metal racks, parts and box slicers aren’t always avoidable.

“Any progress is good progress,” Dukes said. “We have to do what right for our family’s sake.”

In Center Line, about three dozen employees at Stellantis’ Mopar Parts Distribution Center exchanged picket shifts at noon Saturday, some saying they needed a break from the sun.

Latoya Franklin has been a UAW member for 23 years. She started in New Boston in 2000, then moved to Center Line in 2005 and has been packaging parts at the large facility ever since. She loves her job and said this is the first time she joined the picket line.

“This job is everything and I love it. It helped me provide for my big household, didn’t charge additional insurance for each child, gave me a sense of community and purpose,” said Franklin, a mother of eight. The removal of the tier system is nonnegotiable, Franklin added.

“I work about 45 hours a week but temporary employees are working at base rate for more hours than me without insurance, pension, and that’s not OK because they are people who have families that rely on them too,” she said. “People don’t realize these people will be temp at base rate for years and never fully hired. It’s unacceptable.”

The members of UAW Local 1248 said they refuse to settle for anything less than a fair share. Members of the first shift would not leave the sidewalk until a member of the next shift came to take their spot.

The Center Line warehouse packages parts that are shipped to other buildings that serve assembly plants and dealerships. Automakers argue they need to maintain labor costs to compete with non-unionized foreign and domestic automakers, like Toyota Motor Corp. and Tesla Inc. Labor expenses make up about 5% of a vehicle’s cost, the employees noted and experts agree.

“What’s sad is they could increase our paychecks without raising the price of cars with a significant profit intact. It’s mind blowing,” Franklin said. “We buy what we build and that’s included in their profit. All we’re asking for is a short portion of it back.”

On Friday, Fain noted proposed contract improvements the union has so far received from Ford. Those include the previously announced move to bring workers at Ford’s Rawsonville Components Plant and Sterling Axle Plant onto the same wage scale as assembly plants workers; the restoration of the cost-of-living adjustment that was suspended in 2009; and, for the first time, the right to strike over plant closures.

Fain also noted that Ford has agreed to new job security provisions, including guaranteeing income security for up two years, with health care, for laid-off workers. He also cited improvements to the profit-sharing formula Ford has offered, but did not mention any movement on wages; the latest known offer from Ford was a 20% wage increase over the length of the contract, in line with what GM and Stellantis have offered. The union’s last proposal was for 36% in hikes.

Meanwhile, about 5,600 Ford workers are voting Saturday on a new three-year pact between Unifor, the Canadian autoworkers’ union, and the Dearborn automaker.

The deal, Unifor says, “delivers in a very big way” on members’ priorities, including getting wage increases of more than 19% for seniority workers over the life of the agreement.