As the GM nationwide strike grinds toward its fifth week, United Auto Workers are feeling the strain in what has become the longest walkout the company has faced in half a century.
For a month of Sundays, Keondis Howell has anxiously eyed two things: his deep freezer, and his savings. He’s had to ration both.
"I have to keep going, I gotta pay my bills, I gotta eat," he told ABC News."My savings are almost spent; I’ve had to skim way down, and dig way into it. … I don’t have a lot longer to wait. I just don’t." Howell has been a temporary worker for nearly four years -- and at the crux of what the prolonged picket line stands for. He is a third-generation GM worker: a point of deep pride.Outside, strikers sit on lawn chairs and under tents, with coolers full of bottled water. Local community members bring them brown-bag snacks. They’ve been in it for the long haul, but even that’s being tested now.
Talks between GM and the UAW union continued through the weekend even amid concerns negotiations have stagnated. Late Friday, the UAW sent yet another counterproposal to the company after several sharp exchanges of words. Gerald Johnson, GM’s executive vice president of manufacturing, wrote Friday that they had advised the union:"It’s critical that we get back to producing quality vehicles for our customers."
In a sign of slight relief for workers like Howell, the union announced it would raise strike pay from $250 to $275 per week late Saturday.
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