GM and UAW at stalemate five days into labor strike
DETROIT - As the labor dispute between UAW and General Motors drags into the weekend, there's no sign that a deal is even possible as day five ends.
The strike is stretching into the weekend with day six looming Saturday morning. On Sunday, the seventh day of the strike, UAW President Gary Jones is calling for solidarity Sunday, and asking the faith community and other supporters to join workers on the picket lines at Noon.
On Friday, they were joined by politicians, including state representative Isaac Robinson.
"If this strike lasts a long time we're going to have to mobilize the community support these workers and that's what we're doing," said Robinson outside the Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant.
He showed up with Captain Jay's Fish and Chicken for the workers, as did Senator Gary Peters - who passed out donuts outside the Powertrain Plant in Warren.
"It's time for people to step up and say enough is enough - we want to have fair wages," said Peters.
"We want good quality cars - we want good quality jobs - a good paycheck gives you both of those things," said Sterling Jackson, who has been at GM for 32 years.
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With no deal in sight, the strike isn't just hurting GM, but also suppliers.
"Now we're at the point where suppliers are going to have to lay off people and close their plants but you're also going to see things happen that affect consumers," said auto analyst Paul Eisenstein.
It's not just inventory at dealerships that can dry up. Eisenstein says parts warehouses will shut down and a repair could eventually be difficult to get done.
"If you have a car that goes into a body shop after a collission they may not be able to get a fender or some other components for GM," said Eisenstein.
On an even bigger scale, Eisenstein says the state of Michigan could suffer: Strike pay is just 250 a week and with General Motors is reportedly losing anywhere from $50 to $100 million a day.
"The ripple effect is a state that had been in pretty good shape is now facing a potential catastrophe in terms of its tax revenues and the money that these people would be spending everywhere from the Costco to the supermarket to the restaurant," said Eisenstein.
Friday, strikers got their final paychecks from last week's work. Starting next week, they'll start receiving $250 per week.
The union is getting support from several places: other businesses, including Emagine Theaters, which is offering $5 movie tickets for striking workers, and the postal union, which is encouragin members to postpone buying GM products as a show of support.