UAW strike spreads to Charlotte, as auto workers walk out of GM service parts site
GM Services Parts Operations workers in Charlotte walked off the job at noon Friday as the United Auto Workers ongoing strike expanded nationwide.
The Charlotte distribution warehouse at 10815 Quality Drive in Steele Creek is one of 38 across the country that went on strike Friday as a part of the escalation of the UAW’s strike strategy, said Ashley Hawkins, president of the local AFL-CIO chapter of the Charlotte-Metro Labor Council.
“The strike will continue until the employer negotiates in good faith and gives the workers the raises that they deserve,” Hawkins said.
Shanna Allen, president at UAW Local 2404 representing Charlotte, said the facility’s 106 employees are seeking better wages, a 32-hour work week and the elimination of a tiered pay system that maxes out at $25 hour for employees hired after 2015.
Allen, who has worked at the plant for 10 years, said union members will be out on the street striking until they get a better contract.
“We should be making the same for doing the same job,” Allen said. “They’re making record profits and we deserve a better contract.”
About the GM plant in Charlotte
The Charlotte parts distribution center fulfills orders from GM dealers and ACDelco customers, according to the company’s website.
The 352,000-square-foot facility opened in 1999.
What UAW wants out of the strike
UAW President Shawn Fain called for union members to strike at 38 General Motors and Stellantis facilities across 20 states on Friday. The stand-up strike movement began last Friday with 13,000 members on strike donning red shirts.
“In their economy, one of our workers would have to work 400 years to make what a CEO makes in one year,” Fain says in a video on social media post on Friday. “So we’re going to wreck their economy because it only works for the billionaire class.”
UAW strikes began a week ago against “Detroit’s Big Three” carmakers Ford, GM and Stellantis (formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group) when contract negotiations expired.
The union is seeking 40% hourly pay increases, traditional pensions and cost-of-living adjustments.
Fain said Friday that Ford has been working through proposals, including eliminating pay tiers and the right to strike over plant closures as negotiations continue.
“At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story,” Fain said. GM and Stellanis have rejected proposals, he said, calling for workers to stand up and strike, including in Charlotte. The plants on strike will remain on strike, he said.
