UAW Strike 2019: 5 Questions, Answers To Know

MICHIGAN — Tensions are high as United Auto Workers have now surpassed 36 hours on the picket line, striking against General Motors. Patch has laid out the five questions and answers you need to know about a pivotal moment for the company and tens of thousands of workers:

How many workers are on strike exactly?

Nearly 50,000. Some 46,000-49,000 trade-union workers decided to strike after failing to reach an agreement between the United Auto Workers and General Motors, reports say. The breaking point came in September as the two groups failed to hammer out an agreement for their next four-year contract.

What’s been GM’s response so far?

A move experts called “gas on the fire,” according to a new report by the Detroit Free Press. They reported that within three days the automaker announced a decision to shift worker health care payments to the union immediately — “a strategy that risks dragging out the strike, labor negotiators say,” according to the Free Press.

“This induces the workers to get more angry. GM thinks this will scare them or get them to rethink the cost of their benefits. I think it’s going to backfire. It’s quick, rash and insensitive,” said one expert. Read the full report here.

What does this mean for workers?

Workers like Brad Heitz say it’s personal.

“If it weren’t for the UAW, I don’t think I would be alive right now,” Heitz, who works at the GM plant producing Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, and Chevy Express and GMC Savana vans in Wentzville, Missouri, told USA Today.

He credits the health insurance plans the United Auto Workers won from the automaker with saving his life — and worries those kinds of benefits could start disappearing if the strike isn’t successful,USA Today reported. Read their full coverage here.

What’s the cost to workers for striking?

Striking workers earn only $250 per week, and they don’t get paid until the 15th day of the strike.

When was the last strike and why is it important again?

The last GM strike took place in 2007 — a year before the federal government bailed out the auto industry and before the global financial crisis, the Washington Post reported. Over that decade, GM has increased its profits, making $35 billion in the past three years, the New York Times reported.

Many plants are still scheduled to close, and little of that money has made it into workers’ paychecks. Striking workers want to end pay and benefit divisions between temporary and permanent employees, and increase job security, the Free Press reported.