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Solidarity Rally For Striking Stellantis Autoworkers Held In Ontario
UAW members picket outside a Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, on Sept. 18, 2023. Cost-of-living-adjustments have become another major point of contention between automakers and the union.
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Topline:
The United Auto Workers local chapter 230 organized a solidarity rally in Ontario Tuesday as President Joe Biden joined auto workers on the picket line in Michigan. At the Stellantis parts warehouse in Ontario , 140 workers are on strike.
Stellantis said last week that it made a very competitive offer to the UAW and questioned the union's motives for expanding the strike.
Why it matters: Stellantis auto worker Mark Fernandez said he made $26.85 an hour in 2008, and that today, his hourly pay is $31.
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“I worked for the company for 29 years and I can't even afford to own my own product,” Fernandez said. “I can't afford to own a brand new Dodge Ram. I don't make enough. We make these vehicles and we can't even afford our own product.”
“There's no middle class, and it's time for the working class to stand up and bring our pay up, so we can provide for our families, so we can live a normal American dream,” he said.
Impact on the consumer: Jesse Ramirez, the local United Auto Workers chapter president who organized the solidarity rally, said the autoworkers strike will make it harder for people to get their vehicles repaired.
“The company has put all of this pressure on the consumer who now is going to have a hard time going out to the dealer and getting their cars repaired,” he said.
Ramirez added that the strike could also result in a new car shortage.
What’s next: UAW members are asking for cost of living pay raises, the end to a tiered system of wages and pensions for new hires. The Stellantis facility joined 37 other auto facilities across the nation on Friday in a Stand Up Strike.
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