Striking UAW members at Toledo Stellantis plant seek better working conditions
Brad Heineman, The Daily Telegram
5 min read
TOLEDO — Among the many striking United Auto Workers Local 12 members walking the picket line outside the Stellantis Assembly Complex in Toledo were Monroe and Lenawee County residents.
“For us to be out here it means we are fighting to get the benefits we deserve and restore what we gave up during the recession,” said Dustin Gardner, an Adrian resident and a 2006 graduate of Blissfield High School.
Luna Pier resident Seth Harmon, second from left, was among the many employees at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex who lined the roadway Friday morning during the first day of the United Auto Workers' strike against Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis.
Gardner has been working at the Toledo Stellantis plant since 2007 when he started part time. In 2013, he was hired full time and said the job pays well, the benefits are good, and the health care is “really good.”
There is, however, plenty of room left for improved working conditions, he said.
The auto workers union is seeking a boost in wages, job security and a return of regular cost-of-living adjustments and pensions among other requests. The companies have been profitable for years, launching stock buyback programs and issuing dividends while many workers can’t afford to buy the vehicles they build, the UAW argues. The auto companies, meanwhile, want to limit the rise in labor costs at a time when they are also spending money to invest in a transition toward electric vehicle production.
The Toledo plant was one of three where UAW members were on strike after the contracts with Stellantis, Ford and General Motors expired Thursday night. The others were Local 2250 at General Motors’ Wentzville Assembly in Missouri and Local 900, final assembly and paint only, at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne.
Workers from the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex line the roadway outside the plant Friday morning on the first day of the United Auto Workers' strike against Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis.
In what UAW President Shawn Fain has called “a new strategy,” the union is striking all three of the major vehicle production companies at once so long as the bargaining continues.
The UAW, Fain said in an online announcement Thursday night, is “working hard to reach a deal for economic and social justice for its members.”
Manufacturing plants not called to strike will continue working under the expired contract, he said.
If auto manufacturing plants continue to go on strike across the country against the Detroit Three, Gardner said, it would be a “monumental moment” in automotive history.
Strikers lining the roadway outside the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex received thumbs up and other gestures of support Friday morning from motorists passing by the picket line.
Outside the Toledo Stellantis plant Friday morning, strikers were met with resounding support and horn honks from motorists passing by.
“Being out here and getting all of the support, the honking of the horns, having everybody show their support. It’s been a long time coming,” Luna Pier resident and Stellantis Toledo worker Seth Harmon said. “I think this is definitely a big part of history for Jeep; to get what we deserve. Times are tough right now. The cost of living is a huge thing. The pay rate is a huge thing.”
With a wife and two daughters at home, one who is 4 and the other who was born almost one month ago, Harmon said not only does he want to be able to provide financially for his family, but he also wants to have a good home-work balance, something many auto workers are struggling with having to work upwards of 50, 60 or 70 hours each week.
“We’re at work more than we are at home with our families,” he said. “…It’s great to work and be with your work family, but at the same time if you have kids at home, you want to be there for them.”
The Stellantis plant makes the Jeep Wrangler, Wrangler 4xe and Jeep Gladiator.
Toledo resident Robert Springer, a 10-year employee at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex, holds up a United Auto Workers sign while wearing a shirt that says "UAW vs. corporate greed" Friday morning during the first day of a labor strike against Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis.
Ida resident Kyle Alexander said he is a 10-year employee at the Toledo Jeep plant and was surprised to see it was named one of the first three to go on strike.
“It’s kind of cool, honestly,” he said. “There’s been talk about going on strike for years and years but there’s never been this much of a push to get this much unity and more benefits.”
Alexander and his family moved from Toledo to Ida about two years ago to get away from the city life and raise a family in a quieter area, he said. He is a second-generation auto worker with his mom, dad and uncle all having worked at plants in Detroit.
“We’ll be out here until they come up with an agreement that we agree on and then we'll go back to work,” he said. “It might be a couple of weeks, or it might be a couple of months. I’m happy to be here on day 1 and have everyone out here showing their support.”
Organized rallies, protests, red shirt days and community events will keep the UAW’s message clear, Fain said in his announcement.
Toledo resident Sheri Green has been an autoworker for 23 years and the Stellantis Toledo plant is the fourth plant she has been transferred to in her career, she said. She was on the picket line Friday morning advocating for wage increases, not mini bonuses, which is what she said the automakers are offering to workers; equal pay for all workers; and doing away with tiers.
The pay tiers were a concession by the UAW during the 2008 recession, where new employees are hired in at lower pay rates than more experienced workers.
Ray Molkentin, right, is a Florida resident who isn't employed at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio but decided to join in the United Auto Workers cause Friday morning and picket along with many of the striking auto workers including Sheri Green of Toledo, left, a 23-year auto worker.
Strikers in Toledo even got assistance and support on the picket line Friday from Florida resident Ray Molkentin, who said he was traveling on vacation on his way to the Jeep History Museum in Toledo, but instead decided to join in the cause with those on strike.
The Detroit Free Press contributed to this report.
