DETROIT (WXYZ) — As the United Auto Workers union Stand Up Strike enters week six, some workers are growing increasingly weary living on strike pay of $500 per week.
Dozens ate a warm, meal hot off the grill at an event for UAW workers. They traded the picket line for the parking lot at the Rose of Sharon Church of God in Christ on Detroit’s east side.
William Lindsey is a union team leader at Stellantis' Toledo Assembly Plant, which has been on strike since day one. He described to 7 Action News what some of the workers on the picket line are expressing.
“It’s a struggle. It’s a struggle," he said.
Lindsey explained, “A lot of them on one hand are voicing their concerns on how long is this going to go. Their frustration on birthdays are coming up, holidays are coming up. How are they going to support that? They see it. A lot of them are taking out loans.”
Adell Kimbrough, who comes from a lineage of auto workers, organized the event with his nonprofit Prophetic World Group.
“I was talking to a few people in the parking lot about a hour ago and they were saying they’re applying for other jobs because they don’t know how long the strike is going to last, and it just kind of broke my heart," he said.
Brittney Watson told 7 Action News this is one less meal she has to pay for. She walked off the line at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant on Monday. While she’s calling for solidarity, Watson said she is ready for the Stand Up Strike to end.
“I’m already concerned, and I’ve already been stacking (money) — as we say. But I’m concerned. This is how I feed my family. This is the bread and butter. This is all I know," she explained.
Automotive expert Paul Eisenstein said, “The reality is it’s going to be more and more difficult for (UAW President Shawn) Fain and UAW bargainers to let this go on much longer.”
Eisenstein, the editor of Headlight.news, said that's because the strike is becoming increasingly costly for both sides. He said the question is: what’s the bottom line UAW President Shawn Fain will accept at the negotiation table?
He explained, “It seemed like he’s been setting himself and the union up to get much more of what they ask for than what they normally would. The question is will he be able to get, what he described as, a historic contract from all three (automakers)?”
Lindsey said staying the course is how autoworkers can obtain that despite the difficulties.
“This is not just about us. It’s about the whole working class, the whole middle class and really the whole... all over the world because if we don’t start it here it won’t happen," he said.
