UAW workers at Lansing Redistribution Center join strike against Detroit Three

LANSING — Workers at a GM distribution center on Mt. Hope Road stopped work at noon Friday to join the United Auto Workers' week-old strike against the Detroit Three automakers.

The work stoppage came as the first shifts ended at noon at the Lansing Redistribution Center, 4400 W. Mount Hope Road, said Dwight Jackson, president of UAW Local 1753, which represents more than 200 workers at the plant. He said second shift workers who were scheduled to start at 3 p.m. would report to the picket line.

Jackson said they are prepared for a lengthy strike. He declined to get into specifics but said they have been readying for some time and are prepared.

The picket line of under two dozen people received plenty of honks and applause in the first few hours of striking.

“We are here trying to make a message go through to the GM board of directors and corporate: That we are not comfortable with the way they treat us,” said Charles Amabo, a 58-year-old Lansing resident who has spent more than a decade working at the plant. “So we came out to let them know we are not comfortable with the way they treat us in terms of the wages and benefits we deserve.”

The facility supplies parts to GM parts centers, according to GM's website.

The UAW members join 38 distribution centers for General Motors and Stellantis that were added to the strike Friday. The Lansing Redistribution center is one of six distribution centers in Michigan where workers were scheduled to walk out and picket.

UAW workers last struck in 2019 in a 40-day effort.

Jacob Tomek, 32, has spent less than a year at the Lansing plant and decided to strike Friday “for a fair wage” and an “ending of tiers across board and no creation of new ones.” Tier wages are when workers are paid different amounts for doing similar work.

“It would mean a living wage for me instead of a struggle wage,” Tomek said. “It’s rich to hear things from people who have so much they’ll never spend it in their lifetimes when we are struggling in our lifetimes.”

Tomek said he’s a parts picker who works around dangerous equipment as he handles car parts for orders from dealerships and repair shops. His grandfather was a UAW member in Flint, his dad is a UAW-backed worker at a Warren center and his father is a local UAW pipefitter.

“We’ve seen what these companies have demanded from employees since the bankruptcy and what we’ve given up,” he said. “GM, Ford and Stellantis – or, really, Chrysler - they haven’t really ever given back the things they took away.”

On Friday, a half dozen people were handing out signs. Plant officials came outside shortly before noon to tell union organizers and members of the media that photos and interviews and picketing needed to be off of the property. Workers are prepared to picket 24/7, said Jean Duchemin, vice president of Local 1753.

UAW President Shawn Fain announced the new strike sites Friday morning and also invited President Joe Biden to join striking workers on the picket line.

The strike expands to only General Motors and Stellantis sites. Fain said Ford is making progress in their discussions.

The strike began last Friday at Ford's Wayne Assembly in Michigan, GM's Wentzville Assembly in Missouri and Stellantis' Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio.

GM has not announced any impact on Lansing Grand River Assembly, represented by UAW Local 652 with more than 1,400 employees, or Lansing Delta Township Assembly, where more than 2,800 workers are represented by Local 602.

Mike Huerta, president of UAW Local 602, declined to comment for this story.

Lena Wyeth, vice president of UAW Local 652, expects members to support Friday’s strikers with cheerful honks while driving by and snacks to keep them going.

“We definitely support our brothers and sisters,” she said.

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, dropped by the picket line to talk to union leadership.

“All eyes are on Michigan,” Slotkin said. “The conversation we’re having in Michigan is a proxy conversation for 'Do we want a strong middle class or are we OK kind of separating into a country of the very rich and the very poor?'”

She said no one - not the manufacturers, the unions or the public - wants an extended strike.

“We need everyone to come to the table in good faith. When you are making record profits, you should be signing record contracts,” Slotkin said. "Negotiations are about getting a good deal. I give labor real credit for putting it on the table and saying these are the things we need."

Slotkin added that she thought Frain chose the Lansing site for a strike because of tier wages. As a temp, she said, people can wait years to get decent raises and can start at $16.74 at the Lansing plant.

"Lansing’s obviously the Capitol but it’s because of the particular unfairness that’s going on here with someone doing the same job at $16.74 and one is making $31 an hour," she said. “It’s a bold move, we all know that, but I think it represents the mood in the country.”

The UAW has been negotiating separately, yet simultaneously, with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis since mid-summer. The automakers have each made offers and counteroffers to the union, but no tentative agreement has been reached.

Earlier this week, Fain warned that a second wave of plants could face a strike if the automakers did not make "substantial progress" in talks by noon Friday. Fain has said complained that the automakers have dragged their feet on making substantive offers since the union presented its list of "audacious" demands to them earlier this summer. He said GM and Stellantis only made serious offers after the union filed unfair labor charges against them with the National Labor Relations Board, which is currently investigating the allegations.

Here are the locations across the country that where workers went on strike Friday.

GM locations going on UAW strike

• Pontiac Redistribution, 1251 Joslyn in Pontiac, Michigan

• Willow Run Redistribution, 50000 Ecorse Rd. in Belleville, Michigan

• Ypsilanti Processing Center, 2625 Tyler Rd. in Ypsilanti, Michigan

• Davison Rd. Processing Center, 4420 DavisonRd. in Burton, Michigan

• Flint Processing Center, 6060 W. Bristol Rd. in Swartz Creek, Michigan

• Lansing Redistribution, 4400 W. Mount Hope Rd. in Lansing, Michigan

• Cincinnati Parts Distribution, 8752 Jacquemin Dr. in West Chester, Ohio

• Denver Parts Distribution, 23400 E. Smith Rd. in Aurora, Colorado

• Hudson Parts Distribution, 2200 Willis Miller Dr. in Hudson, Wisconsin

• Chicago Parts Distribution, 1355 Remington Blvd. in Bolingbrook, Illinois

• Reno Parts Distribution Center, 6565 Echo Ave. in Reno, Nevada

• Rancho Cucamonga Parts Distribution, 9150 Hermosa Ave. in Rancho Cucamonga, California

• Fort Worth Parts Distribution, 301 Freedom Dr. in Roanoke, Texas

• Martinsburg Parts Distribution, 608 Caperton Blvd. in Martinsburg, West Virginia

• Jackson Parts Distribution, 1500 Marquette Road in Brandon, Mississippi

• Charlotte Parts Distribution, 10815 Quality Dr. in Charlotte, North Carolina

• Memphis AC Delco Parts Distribution, 5115 Pleasant Hill Road in Memphis, Tennessee

• Philadelphia Parts Distribution, 200 Cabot Blvd. E. in Lang Horne, Pennsylvania

Stellantis locations going on UAW strike

• Marysville, 840 E. Huron Blvd. in Marysville, Michigan

• Centerline Packaging, 26311 Lawrence in Center Line, Michigan

• Centerline Warehouse, 26311 Lawrence in Center Line, Michigan

• Sherwood, 21555 Sherwood Ave. in Warren, Michigan

• Warren Parts, 21035 Sherwood in Warren, Michigan

• QEC, 2021 Executive Hills Blvd. in Auburn Hills, Michigan

• Romulus, 16950 Pine in Romulus, Michigan

• Cleveland, 9777 Mopar Dr. in Streetsboro, Ohio

• Milwaukee, 3280 S. Clement Ave. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Minneapolis, 13005 Hwy 55 in Plymouth, Minnesota

• Denver, 10728 Troy St. in Commerce City, Colorado

• Chicago, 1980 High Grove Lane in Naperville, Illinois

• Los Angeles, 5141 Santa Ana St. in Ontario, California

• Portland, 10030 SW Allen Blvd. in Beaverton, Oregon

• Atlanta, 1149 Citizens Parkway, Morrow, Georgia

• Winchester, 80 Tyson Dr. Winchester, Virginia

• Orlando, 10300 Boggy Creek Rd. in Orlando, Florida

• Dallas, 2205 E. Belt Line Rd. in Carrollton, Texas

• New York, 108 NY 303 in Tappan, New York

• Boston, 550 Forbes Blvd. in Mansfield, Massachusetts

Detroit Free Press reporters Jamie L. LaReau and Brian Manzullo contributed.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: UAW workers at Lansing Redistribution Center join strike against Detroit Three