The Stellantis parts distribution center in Streetsboro is among the over 35 nationwide that have been called to join the UAW strike against the Big 3 auto manufacturers beginning at noon on Friday.
One week after UAW workers at three Midwest auto plants went on strike, Shawn Fain, the president of the UAW International Union, announced additional strikes at dozens of more GM and Stellantis buildings, including the Stellantis Mopar Cleveland Distribution Center in Streetsboro and the GM Cincinnati Parts Distribution Center in Westchester, Ohio.
Mopar is the parts, service, and customer care division of the former Chrysler Corporation, now owned by Netherlands-based automobile manufacturer Stellantis.
UAW Local 573 represents 114 members at the Stellantis facility in Streetsboro, according to Unionfacts.com.The strike at the Streetsboro facility will affect at least seven states.
At exactly noon, dozens of workers walked out of the distribution plant and into the streets, carrying protest signs and chanting.
Teresa Peterson is one of the Mopar Streetsboro employees who are now on the strike line and told News 5 she's prepared for a long strike, even though she knows it will be tough to live on just $500 strike pay per week.
“We have to do this for at least 8 days before we even see that $500, so no extras," Peterson said. “This could be a very negative effect on a lot of people and not just here but across the nation, but have dealt with unbelievable concessions for 15 years and we only want a portion back.”
Beverly Wilson is a striking Mopar Streetsboro grandmother who told News 5 her family depends on her wages, but she's prepared to stay on the picket line for as long as it takes.
“We all were ready; we were on call, so we were ready to stand up; we are here because we have to be, not because we want to be," Wilson said. “We need pensions, we need better contracts, better wages, and the things we are asking for are things that we gave up.”
Streetsboro Mayor Glenn Broska told News 5 that his city of 17,500 will lose tax dollars if the strike continues for several weeks or more, but he doesn't expect it to be a significant loss. Broska said he's more concerned about striking workers and their families.
“We won’t have any problem surviving this, but I want them, I want everybody to get back to the table and get this thing resolved," Broska said. "Our economy is in enough hurt right now; we can’t afford to have all these auto workers out.”
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown met with striking workers in Streetsboro at about 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Watch a replay of the UAW announcement in the video player below:
The distribution center provided a statement Friday afternoon:
Following yesterday’s publication of comments made by the UAW’s Communications Director and the subsequent strike announcement, we question whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner. They seem more concerned about pursuing their own political agendas than negotiating in the best interests of our employees and the sustainability of our U.S. operations, given the market’s fierce competition.
The fact is, we made a very competitive offer yesterday that includes all our current full-time hourly employees earning between $80,000 and $96,000 a year by the end of the contract (a 21.4% compounded increase), a long-term solution for Belvidere; and significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract. And yet, we still have not received a response to that offer. We look forward to the UAW leadership’s productive engagement so that we can bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that will protect the competitiveness of our Company and our ability to continue providing good jobs.
The UAW on Friday targeted distribution centers, not production plants. The three strikes that began at plants Ford, GM and Stellantis plants one week ago will go on, the union said.
Ford was spared additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, said UAW President Shawn Fain.
The union is pointing to the companies’ huge recent profits as it seeks wage increases of 36% over four years. The companies have offered a little over half that amount. The UAW has other demands, including a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay and a restoration of traditional pension plans for newer workers.
The companies say they can’t afford to meet the union’s demands because they need to invest profits in a costly transition from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.
The UAW’s contract with the automakers expired at midnight on Sept. 14, and workers walked out of a Ford assembly plant near Detroit, a GM factory in Wentzville, Missouri, and a Jeep plant run by Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio. The initial strike has involved about 13,000 of the union’s 146,000 members.
Fain said earlier this week he would call on workers at more plants to strike unless there was significant progress in contract negotiations with the carmakers. Bargaining continued Thursday, although neither side reported any breakthroughs, and they remained far apart on wage increases.
The strike until Friday had involved fewer than 13,000 of the union’s 146,000 members. The companies have laid off a few thousand more, saying some factories are running short on parts because of the strike.
Still, the impact is not yet being felt on car lots around the country – it will probably take a few weeks before the strike causes a significant shortage of new vehicles, according to analysts. Prices could rise even sooner, however, if the prospect of a prolonged strike triggers panic buying.
The union is seeking pay raises of 36% over four years, an end to lower pay scales for new workers, and most boldly, a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay. The car companies say they can’t afford the union’s demands despite huge profits because they need to invest in the transformation to electric vehicles.
One week ago, workers went on strike a week ago at three assembly plants — a Ford factory near Detroit, a GM plant outside St. Louis, and a Jeep plant owned by Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio.
The Detroit News reported Thursday that a spokesman for Fain wrote on a private group chat on X, formerly Twitter, that union negotiators aimed to inflict “recurring reputation damage and operational chaos” on the carmakers and “if we can keep them wounded for months they don’t know what to do.”
Ford and GM seized on the messages as a sign of bad faith by the UAW.
“It’s now clear that the UAW leadership has always intended to cause months-long disruption, regardless of the harm it causes to its members and their communities,” GM said in a statement.
Ford spokesman Mark Truby called the messages “disappointing, to say the least, given what is at stake for our employees, the companies and this region.”
The UAW spokesman, Jonah Furman, did not confirm writing the messages, which were linked to the same picture as his X account, and called them “private messages” that “you shouldn’t have,” the newspaper reported.
While not called to strike Friday, workers at the GM plant in Parma told News 5 earlier this week that they are prepared to join the picket lines as well.
“As long as this goes, the people in UAW Local 1005 are getting more and more stronger and energized, and we’re willing to take this thing as long as it needs to be,” said UAW 1005 Local President Dan Schwartz. UAW 1005 Local is based in Parma and represents, among others, workers at the GM plant there.
Schwartz said he is prepared to go on strike and is warning others to do the same if it is to happen.
“I mean, fair is fair, they’re making millions of dollars a year, and we’re struggling to make 60 and 70,” said GM Parma stamping plant worker Paul Tibbs.
Tibbs said he has been working at Parma GM for more than 22 years.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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