Hundreds more auto workers are getting temporarily laid off on Monday as the UAW strike enters another week. Since it began, the strike has grown to more than 40 facilities across the country, and the Big Three have responded with thousands of layoffs.
On Monday, Ford is expected to announce about 550 employees have been temporarily laid off at plants in Illinois, Ohio, and four in metro Detroit.
The breakdown of the layoffs in metro Detroit is:
- 100 workers at the Dearborn Stamping Plant
- 65 workeres at the Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plant
- 45 workers at Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant
- 29 workers at Ford's Sterling Axle Plant
The new layoffs bring the total number of Ford workers laid off to 2,480.
Right now, 16,660 Ford UAW members on strike, as well as over 9,375 GM workers and 7,950 from Stellanits.
The lay offs at five plants are because of the shutdown of the Kentucky Truck Plant, which went on a surprise strike last week.
Mike Smith, the vice president at UAW Local 900, said their union was one of the first to go on strike. It's now been over a month, and it's becoming stressful for union members on the picket lines.
"It worries me. It worries me that the company is not taking this seriously. Our members are starting to get burned out, They're starting to have financial problems and we want to go back to work. We just want our fair share," he said.
Now, the weather is changing and temperatures are getting colder, a month into their fight for a new contract.
"They need that support, they need to see that people all over the country is with us," UAW Local 900 Recording Secretary Judith Reynolds said.
Fain announced last week they're changing their strategy for the strike. They're no longer waiting until his weekly Facebook Lives on Fridays to announce additional walkouts.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said plants in Indiana were affected. That has been updated to Illinois, not Indiana.
