LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — We are hours away from when the current contract between UAW members and the Big Three automakers is set to expire.
If national UAW leaders call a strike, we could see multiple picket locations around the Lansing Delta Township assembly plant. It’s a possibility, Local 602 President Mike Huerta said, he hopes it does not come down to.
Huerta says union members want to keep working, but under a better contract. He says a stoppage around Lansing could impact more than just the 2,200 workers at his chapter.
“Three GM facilities here and here…the parts warehouse as well as the GM facility…So, um, you go down Canal Road, you go down Creyts Road, the supplier plants up and down those those roads are all associated with us. If we don’t work, they don’t work,” Huerta said. “…If both of us are down, that shuts down a huge portion of the parts people, the delivery folks, the rail head at the plant over in Lansing Delta Township. All of that stops. So that’s a lot of workers in Lansing and the Lansing area.”
A restaurant owner who’s just blocks away from this plant says if workers strike, he could see a drop in customers of 60%.
“They’re used to making the GM guys tip well, and now you take that away from them because they will not be coming while they are on strike,” Tony M’s Restaurant owner Steffan Farrell tells 6 News while food and drink orders fly past him in the restaurant. “They will be picketing out here, but they won’t have the money.”
Later tonight, UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to share updates on talks, especially after GM shared a new offer just hours ago.
