Tuesday in Mooseville – The Strike That No One Is Talking About 10/8/19

October 8, 2019 DoReMI Democratic Party Values, Editors' Choice, It Takes a Village 1

President Barack Obama salutes while walking down the steps of Air Force One as he arrives in Youngstown, Ohio, to attend a roundtable event with auto workers at the GM Lordstown Assembly Plant, Sept. 15, 2009. The Lordstown plant was closed March 6, 2019 after 52 years of operation.
As a kid growing up in Cleveland, I was aware, even hyper-aware, of any UAW strikes against the automakers. Maybe it was because we got the newspaper delivered everyday, and it was hard to miss the updates. Maybe it was a Midwestern thing and the proximity to so many auto plants. Or perhaps it was because my mother’s cousin worked at the Lordstown plant and was loud and proud in his support of the UAW. Whatever the reason, a strike was a big deal, and the strikes were seen, heard, and discussed whenever they happened. I no longer feel like that’s the case. Even here in Michigan, it doesn’t seem like the current strike against GM is garnering much attention except in UAW families. That’s probably a statement about the decline of auto manufacturing in the state, as well as the decline of unions in general. But this is an important strike, with the very real possibility of being of historical importance. So today it’s going to be seen, heard, and maybe even discussed.

How long has this been going on?

And how’s it going?

Auto workers make a ton of money. How hard can line work be? Why should anyone care about their “cause”?

Note the management claim. Then ask yourself why they couldn’t include the union in the decision-making/planning to reach that goal?

Electoral impact…but don’t assume it’s good news for Dems.

Let’s be clear: over the long term, this is a complex situation. But let’s also understand that the top-down structure of GM doesn’t give the UAW any reason to accommodate the corporation any further than they already have (see the 2009 bankruptcy).

Just a note: I’ll be hit or miss in my presence today. I’m still not feeling 100%, and I have to get in a postponed-too-many-times-already trip to the unemployment office.

About DoReMI 165 Articles
Now a Michigander, by way of Ohio, Illinois, Scotland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Gardener. Sewer. Democrat. Resister.

1 Comment

  1. The replies on the 1st tweet tell you the RW propaganda machine has done its job. The anti-union forces are strong and getting stronger. & will, as they’ve been manipulated to do, blame the unions for the loss of salary, insurance, health/safety protections, 40-hour work weeks, weekends, etc – all the benefits unions have brought workers in America will go away if the unions are broken. And the idiots who helped break the unions will blame the unions for those losses. Just like an unfortunately large number of documented immigrants blame undocumented immigrants for the racist treatment they get. Wealthy/powerful elites maintain their status by divide and conquer among those who should be natural allies. The shortsightedness of the wannabees is why it works so well. sigh.

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