PARMA, Ohio — It's business as usual in Parma at General Motors on Saturday night. On Sunday, employees will work at the plant again. Monday, too, unless the 900 employees are called on to join the picket line.
“They would put us in what they call the queue; we’ll get some directive from the international staff saying that your local is in the queue and get ready because you could get a phone call at any time to take action," said Dan Schwartz, UAW Local 1005 President.
Schwartz said there is some anxiety among members, "there’s a lot of concern. It’s more than what it was on Thursday and yesterday only because we really don’t know what the future’s going to hold here.”
The local 1005 union hall sign in Parma reads, "Fighting against corporate greed."
The UAW wants a 36% raise for workers. Ford offered 20% over 4 and a half years, General Motors offered 18% over four years, and Stellantis offered a 17.5% raise.
At the negotiating table in Detroit, those companies said an expensive labor agreement could raise car prices above their non-union foreign competitors.
"Everybody has to understand the profits that General Motors makes. We reinvest in the business. We reinvest in our people to put out new products because having products that people want to buy is the way that we keep all of our assembly plants running," said Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors.
Employees at GM in Parma are keeping a close eye on negotiations over the weekend, "I have seen that they laid off 600 of our members from Ford, and you know, all that is, a ploy from management to try to get us to accept something that is absolutely ridiculous," said Schwartz.
For now, UAW workers in Northeast Ohio and across the country are in a holding pattern, waiting for what's next.
"We reached out to our membership on Thursday and Friday and told them to enjoy your family and dig in deep, but remember what we're in this for," said Schwartz.
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