PARMA, Ohio — Stephanie Smith is a Northeast Ohio grandmother and employee at the Parma General Motors plant, who is prepared to walk the picket line if an impending UAW strike against the big three automakers becomes a reality.
Smith, who has worked at the Parma GM plant since 2007 and provides key income for her family and three grandchildren, told News 5 she agrees with the United Auto Workers union, which believes the U.S. big-three automakers have not given its workers pay increases and improved benefits that have kept pace with inflation, especially over the past four years.
“If gas prices are going up and things like that, and I’m still breaking my neck to get to work, come on," Smith said. “When we have our utility bills that are going up, and our car insurance and everything else is going up, and yes, pay should go up with that.”
At the same time, Smith, who weathered the six-week autoworkers strike in 2019, said she's also concerned about what impact a long strike will have on her family income, especially with some local autoworkers potentially left with just $500 in weekly strike pay.
“It’s scary, it’s very, very scary to think that am I going to be able to make my mortgage, you know, that’s the biggest thing," Smith said. “The last time we went out on strike, we had our medical benefits, but it then it ended up being cut."
Dan Schwartz, President of UAW Local 1005, confirmed his team obtained the permits to host picket lines in Parma if a new agreement isn't reached before the Sept. 14, 11:59 p.m. deadline. Schwartz acknowledged a long strike won't be easy on local families.
“It’s stressful, it’s stressful on everybody, it’s stressful on my family, Schwartz said.
Parma Councilwoman Debbie Lime has dozens of Parma GM families living in her Ward 2 and said she's also concerned about a long strike having a devastating impact on local families. Lime said strike pay and benefits will not be nearly enough to keep many families financially afloat over the long run.
"That’s not going to pay a mortgage payment, that’s not going to pay for a car payment, that’s not going to pay for their kids sporting events or groceries to put on the table," Lime said. “What happens to your hospitalization benefits, what if your kid gets sick, or COVID is going around now, or they fall, and they hurt themselves, and they have to go to the doctor, now you’re talking about adding medical bills.”
Lime told News 5 she stands with local GM workers in their effort to get better pay and benefits, but she's hoping a last-minute agreement between the UAW and the big three automakers can be found to prevent a strike. Lime also confirmed Parma would lose tens of thousands in income tax revenue every week if a strike took place.
“I’ll go over there and ask if I can stand with them, I agree with them, but I do not want to see this happen," Lime said. "I do not want to see this for those families, I don’t want to see it for GM, and I don’t want to see it for our city either.”
News 5 is committed to following through on this developing story.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
