The GM Parma Metal Center temporarily laid off 130 employees on Friday amid the UAW strike against the “Big Three” automakers, according to union representatives. Employees at the plant have not been called on to strike.
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Friday morning, UAW International President Shawn Fain announced two more plants would join the strike against GM, Stellantis and Ford, neither of which were in Northeast Ohio.
Dan Schwartz, President of UAW 1005, told News 5 that among the 130 employees laid off are 12 temporary workers and more than 100 production employees. Schwartz said trade workers were not part of the layoffs and said the UAW will provide strike pay to laid-off employees.
“They’ll get the $500 a week, but they have to do something; they’ll have to support one of our other picket lines, work in a food kitchen, some type of community service,” Schwartz said. “Nobody wants to strike; nobody wants to get laid off; everybody wants to stay working, although, on the backside of that, I can’t say how proud I am of these members; they've worked so hard to prepare for what we’re fighting for."
GM Parma employee Stephanie Smith was not among the laid-off workers at the plant but shared her support for those who had temporarily been taken off of the job.
"We are showing the big three what solidarity looks like," Smith said. "We are fighting for our families and our future, and we only want what is fair for our sacrifice and the things we gave up to the company over the years."
Meanwhile, Schwartz said his members are prepared to pick up strike signs and walk the picket line, but it's still not clear if or when that could happen.
“This could have been avoided if General Motors would have come to the table 9, 10 weeks ago when we gave them our demands and sat down and bargained like they were supposed to," Schwartz said, “We’re on call, so it’s just a matter of another announcement and President Fain deciding who is going to go next.”
Last week, the Stellantis facility in Streetsboro was called to strike, joining the initial three that Fain announced would strike starting Sept. 14.
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.
As of Friday, about 25,000 of the union’s 146,000 workers have been called to strike.
What the union wants
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.
