The nationwide United Auto Workers movement expanded to include Local 1853 in Spring Hill this weekend.
Despite some reports of a tentative agreement on Monday, local union employees remained on picket lines. The UAW did not officially announce an agreement as of 2 p.m. Monday.
“Spring Hill is still on strike until I hear something official,” Local 1853 President John Rutherford Tell mail Sister post News. “UAW President (Sean Fine) did not announce anything or ask us to stop striking.”
About 80 workers walked out of the General Motors plant at 5 p.m. on Saturday, an unproductive day. The strike includes all approximately 4,000 manufacturing employees at the plant, which is General Motors’ largest plant in North America.
“We’re not messing around,” said Daniel Martinez, a UAW District Committee member and store committee member. News. “We are serious about the demands we put on the company. I think this just sends a message.”
As a member of the District Committee, Martinez represents members in contractual issues with the department for local and state contract enforcement. In talks with the Big Three automakers, the UAW is demanding a number of changes — wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments, more paid leave, elimination of worker levels, a capped pension, medical benefits for retirees, the right to strike over plant closures and other efforts to help employees. .
“When we went bankrupt in 2009, we opened our agreement twice because we knew times were bad,” Rutherford said. “We compromised a lot. And they said look when things get better… When we fast forward 15 years later, we had record profits… So we said, ‘Hey man, what about us?’ Can we get the things back that we lost? This is That’s what it’s all about now.
Local 1853 announced it would join the strike shortly after the UAW announced it had reached a tentative agreement with Stellantis, which makes Dodge, Ram, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles. The union also announced a preliminary agreement with Ford last week. The UAW called both deals record-breaking.
UAW President Shawn Fain told members that negotiations were continuing and that union leaders were meeting with GM on Sunday. Rutherford said when he gets the official word on a tentative agreement, he and other elected leaders will go to Detroit to decide whether to send that agreement to members — that could be by the end of the week.
“We are disappointed in the action taken by the UAW in light of the progress we have made,” GM said in a statement on Saturday. “We have continued to bargain in good faith with the UAW, and our goal remains to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
The union’s District 8 Director Tim Smith and District 8 Service Representative Chuck Davenport visited the local union hall and picket lines on Sunday. State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) also visited the picket lines on Sunday.
“The auto industry has made record profits and workers are demanding a record contract,” Jones said on social media.
Governor Bill Lee He opposed the UAW’s efforts In 2019 at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. Lee’s office was connected to efforts to defeat UAW organizing plans at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. Objection Reported in 2019.
Lee did not make a statement about the union’s contract negotiations even though Spring Hill is now the second factory to go on strike in the state. Another General Motors plant in Memphis went on strike in September.
This story was first published by our sister publication News.
