Signs of Discord as U.A.W. Locals Consider G.M. Deal

“If we don’t have product in Lordstown, we want them to vote no on this contract,” said Anthony Naples, a father of five who worked for 25 years at the Lordstown plant.

“Now our jobs are going away,” he said. “They have to figure out a way to get product in the U.S.”

When a group of G.M. executives stepped off an elevator, the Lordstown workers spoke out more forcefully.

“Mexicans don’t buy your cars!” shouted Todd Piroch, who worked 23 years at Lordstown before he recently transferred to a plant in Bowling Green, Ky., an eight-hour drive from his wife and two high-school-age children.

G.M. should make vehicles where it sells them, Mr. Piroch added. “Whatever the wage is down there, it’s not enough to buy G.M. product. I buy G.M. product. If we lose Lordstown, it is really going to hurt that whole area.”

Why did the U.A.W. go on strike?

One of the union’s main objectives was getting G.M. to reopen the car factory in Lordstown, a goal that President Trump endorsed. G.M. closed that plant, and others in Baltimore and in Warren, Mich., as part of a cost-cutting effort that eliminated 2,800 factory jobs and thousands of white-collar positions.

Another sticking point was the automaker’s tiered wage structure: While workers who started with G.M. before 2007 earn about $31 an hour, most of those hired since then make much less, and so-called temporary workers are at the bottom of the scale at about $15 an hour.

What was the economic impact?

Every day the strike continued, the economic ramifications spread throughout the auto supply chain, resulting in layoffs or pay cuts for tens of thousands of employees at factories that provide G.M. with parts.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/business/gm-strike-whats-next.html?emc=rss&partner=rss