The United Auto Workers is expanding its strike to a General Motors assembly plant just west of Lansing.
The union announced Friday that GM’s Lansing Delta Township assembly plant would join the work stoppage. The nationwide strike just passed the two-week mark.
Union leaders said more than 18,000 members have walked off the job at more than 40 facilities across the country.
“Without the strike weapon, the war on workers is a rigged fight,” said UAW President Shawn Fain during the livestream announcement. “Let’s remember that our movement is fighting everywhere. Not just in Michigan but from east to west, to north and south.”
At noon, more than 2,000 UAW members left the Delta Township factory, demanding GM come to the bargaining table.
Employees at the plant manufacture the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave among other vehicles. The automaker previously announced plans to assemble the GMC Acadia there, bringing a third shift of production back to the factory.
Mike Huerta, president of UAW Local 602, said the strike will put those plans to a halt.
“This is a big employer. This is a lot of money for the area. This is a lot of money for GM, so this one’s going to hurt,” Huerta said.
He argued executives are making record profits while taking pay raises at workers’ expense.
“They don’t mind taking these cars and making an awful lot of money off the line for us,” Huerta said. “But when we want some of the things — dignity, respect, help our families afford middle-class living in a high inflation era — they don’t want to be at the table.”
The work stoppage represents the second mid-Michigan factory to join the strike. Workers began picketing at GM’s Lansing Redistribution Center last week.
The UAW also expanded its strike to a Ford facility in Chicago. Employees at the Lansing Regional Stamping factory, also in Delta Township, are not participating in the strike.
“Of course, nobody wants to strike, but we have to stand up and this is our way to stand up,” said Jennifer Snook, an employee of the Lansing Delta Township assembly plant.
A 15-year veteran of the factory, Snook said she was part of the first tier of employees to take a pay cut when she started. She believes striking is the best path forward to end the tiered wage system and force higher pay for workers.
“I’m proud to be here with my brothers and sisters in solidarity and do the right thing,” Snook said.
During the strike's announcement, union leaders admonished reported acts of picket line violence that have occurred throughout the country. In Flint, five people were struck Tuesday during a hit-and-run vehicle collision while protesting outside a GM processing center.
Fain emphasized the union’s demands go beyond the auto industry, highlighting the ongoing strike of UAW healthcare workers at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
The Detroit Casino Council, a coalition of labor unions including the UAW, is holding a strike authorization vote today which could halt work at the city’s three casinos.
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