strike - WKTV Journal

Governor Gretchen Whitmer meets up with UAW Local 169 President Willie Holmes. (Video by WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Donte Granison, of Wyoming, easily admits that being part of the GM family was just in his blood, after all he comes from a family of GM workers.

“It was just something that was rooted in me,” Granison said. “I just felt I needed to try it at least.”

Chad Fox, a UAW Local 167 member (Photo by WKTV)

So he left his $20-plus an hour job at Steelcase to work at Wyoming’s GM Components Holdings as a temporary worker making $15.62.

“It was tough but I live with my fiancé, who also works, so we are able to split the bills,” Granison said.

Chad Fox, of Grand Rapids, had no interest in returning to the auto industry. He had been on the bargaining team that had to negotiate the closing of a Lear Corp plant, so Fox admitted he had just moved on.

But friends and colleagues encouraged Fox to return, so he too joined the ranks of the temporary employees at the GM Components Holdings.

“It took longer than it should,” said Fox of his finally becoming a full-time GM employee. “I really didn’t think it would take that long because at first they took 50 but then the numbers started shrinking to 10, then 6, then 4.”

UAW Local 167 member Myron Brewer talks to Governor Gretchen Whitmer about the plight of the GM worker. (Video by WKTV)

With no guarantee on when they might get hired in as full-time employees, both Granison and Fox worked as many hours as they could to make ends meet. Granison said he worked 12 hours a day, juggling family responsibilities and schedules with his fiancé.

“She works in the evening, so I was able to add a couple of hours before I had to be home,” Granison said. “It’s a lot of coming and going and working on weekends, but you do what you have to survive.”

“I was working seven days a week, 12 hours a day,” Fox said. “There were weeks that I would put in 78 hours but most of the time it was 65-75 hours a week.”

After waiting a year to be hired in, Granison said he only received an .82 per hour raise, bringing his hourly wage to just more than half the estimated livable hourly wage that a family of four in Kent County needs, according to the United Way’s ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed, Simply) According to ALICE, for Kent County, the needed livable hourly wage is $32.39 for a family of four. It is $10.81 for a single adult.

For the past four weeks, both men have been surviving on $250 in strike pay, about 38 percent of their weekly salary, which Donate said has helped to cover the basics, food, shelter, etc.

“My daughter was doing gymnastics which was $70 and we had to cut that out,” Donate said. “We also had one in band, learning different instruments and one in swimming, which was $60-$70, but we can’t afford that right now.”

UAW Local 167 president Willie Holmes and bargaining chair Martin Wood. (Photo by WKTV)

On Oct. 13, the UAW increased strike pay to $275 per week — workers at the GM Components Holdings receive the strike pay if they walk the line at least one-day a week — and allowed for strikers to get part-time jobs that would not have any impact on their strike pay. Before, workers receiving $250 a week in strike pay and could not receive more in part-time pay than the strike pay amount.

The relief from UAW about part-time work comes as good news for both Fox and Granison. Both men have considered part-time work especially if the strike continues.

There was more good news as according to reports GM and the UAW have been working intensely in negotiations with numerous UAW leaders called to meet in Detroit on Thursday. GM officials have stated that “We continue to negotiate and change proposals, and it remains our goal to reach an agreement that builds a stronger future for our employees and our company.” For more information, visit the company’s website, buildingastrongerfuture.gm.com.

UAW Local 167 members walk the picket line at one of the entrances to the GM-Components Holdings LLC, located on the corner of Burlingame and Burton. (WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

On any given work day, Willie Holmes’ car would be one of about two in the parking lot of the UAW Local 167 office located at 1320 Burton St. SW.

However, this being day 19 of a nationwide UAW strike against GM, the 42-space parking lot is packed with vehicles as strikers head to their assigned posts and retirees come in to help prepare food and work on the organization’s newsletter.

“I’m a little tired,” said Holmes, who serves as the president of UAW Local 167, which represents employees at the GM-Components Holdings LLC, located at the corner of Burlingame and Burton in Wyoming.

Holmes does not look or act tired. He moves effortlessly through the hall, answering questions and talking to members and retirees.

“Actually things are going quite well,” Holmes said. “I think many of us didn’t expect the strike to happen so there was a little bit of chaos in the beginning as this is the first strike for many of us, but we got our groove going now.”

The last GM/UAW strike was in 2007 with about 73,000 employees striking for two days. The longest and largest GM/UAW strike was in 1970, which was 67 days and had about 343,000 GM employees striking in both the U.S. and Canada.

The parking lot at the UAW Local 167. (WKTV)

On Sept. 15, 46,000 GM workers went on strike, of which 650 employees are from the GM-Components Holdings in Wyoming. According to Holmes, there is about 137 employees still working at the plant as they support the Toyota line.

What many people do not understand is that the plant in Wyoming is a subsidiary to GM, Holmes said.

“Many have lumped us in with the traditional GM plants, saying that we make a $1,000 a week,” Holmes said. “I don’t make a $1,000 a week.”

Wages are one of the issues the UAW wants addressed as currently there is a three-tier system. For those at GM Components, a general employee who has been at the plant for 13 years makes about $22 per hour or $45,760 gross per year. The starting wage at a traditional GM plant, like the Lansing plant, is around $29 per hour. Temporary employees make $15.62 per hour.

“So for many of these temporary workers, they are working 10- to 12-hour shifts to make any money,” Holmes said. The union also wants a clear pathway for full-time employment for temporary employees. Currently there is none, according to Holmes.

“They are working one, two, three years,” Holmes said. “There is one temporary worker in Lansing who has been working for five years. That is five years of no profit sharing, no vacation days.”

While there are some places that temporary employees work well, the auto industry is not one of them, he said.

“That is another misconception in that it is grungy, basic work that anyone off the street can do,” Holmes said. “There is a lot of technology involved in auto manufacturing. You can’t just come in and push a button, you have to know why are you are pushing that button.”

From an Oct. 1 letter from UAW Vice President and Director Terry Dittes, other issues centered on health care costs, skilled trades and job security. A GM spokesperson said “We continue to negotiate and exchange proposals, and it remains our goal to reach an agreement that builds a stronger future for our employees and our company.” For more information, visit the ompany’s website, buildingastrongerfuture.gm.com.

“This is going to be historical,” Holmes said, adding that the negotiations will set a tone as to how employees in the auto industry and other places are treated. “It has been like a movement. I believe people are just tired of the greed. They are tried of being taking advantage of.”

One of the sheets listing those who have donated. (WKTV)

There has been community support with three large sheets of paper on the walls filled with individuals and businesses who have donating food and supplies in support of the union and its members.

The ripple effect of the strike also is being felt. Along with the Wyoming GM-Components Holdings, the UAW Local 167 also represents employees at Robert Bosch Fuel Systems, Challenge Manufacturing, Caravan, and North American Fuel Systems Remanufacturing. Holmes said work has slowed down with lay-offs happening at some of the businesses.

As to when the strike will end, Holmes could not predict, but the local is looking to extend services to its members and their families by offering a food pantry, a diaper drive and other resources such as financial planning. Recently, members started receiving $250 a week in strike pay, which is only a portion of an employee’s paycheck — temporary or permanent.

“We have worked to help members get deferred rent payments, deferred car payments,” Holmes said. “We are bringing people in to talk to members about spending and how to budget on a modified income.”