By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
The UAW union leader who represents roughly 2,500 workers at the Janesville GM plant said today he has no idea how long the strike that began this morning will last.
Mike Sheridan, who heads Local 95, said no union members wanted to strike.
“But when it comes to protecting job security and health benefits, the union is willing to do what it has to do,” said Sheridan, who also represents a Janesville area district in the state Assembly.
GM has reportedly been insisting that a UAW-managed trust, known as a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), be created to administer GM’s retiree health care obligations. The company is attempting to move $51 billion in unfunded retiree health costs off its books.
In a statement, GM said the current contract talks “involve complex, difficult issues that affect the job security of our U.S. work force and the long-term viability of the company.
“We are fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing General Motors. We will continue focusing our efforts on reaching an agreement as soon as possible.”
The last time the Janesville plant was struck was 1996 when the union went out for a relatively short seven days. Because the company has thousands of employees, a walkout of any length will affect the area economy.
John Beckord, who heads an economic development group called Forward Janesville, said it was unclear how the much strike would hurt his city.
“It’s already affected the workers, at least psychologically,” he said. “And I’m sure none of them are headed to the jewelry store to buy something expensive tonight.”
But he said the expectation in Rock County is that the strike will be short-lived.
“And not everyone here works for GM,” he cautioned. “Only 5 percent of the county’s workforce is in the automotive industry. Still, these are among the best-paid manufacturing jobs in the state.”
Beckord said the impact of the strike will be felt far from Janesville.
“There are 380 suppliers in Wisconsin who feed this plant, so it is a powerful economic engine,” he said. “They build 1,050 SUVs a day that cost between $35,000 and $55,000 each. You do the math.”
Already, many of the 780 hourly employees at the Janesville Lear Corp. plant are preparing to be laid off, said Mike Vaughn, shop committee chairman at Lear for UAW Local 95.
Lear makes automotive interiors and one of its primary buyers is the GM plant in Janesville.
On the picket line Monday, workers were mostly subdued. They said they hoped a settlement would be reached quickly, but several said they were prepared to stay out “as long as it takes.”
Still, walking out was emotional for some.
Anita Ahrens burst into tears as hundreds of workers streamed out of the plant shortly after 10 a.m., when the strike began.
“Oh my God, here they come,” said Ahrens, 39. “This is unreal.”
Ahrens has seven years at the plant, where she works nights installing speakers in sport utility vehicles. She waited outside the sprawling building Monday for her husband, Ron Ahrens, who has worked there for 21 years.
Ahrens has never been involved in a strike.
She told The Janesville Gazette that the couple has three children, including a college freshman, and Ahrens worried about how they would pay their bills.
“This is horrible, but we’re die-hard union, so we have to,” Ahrens said. “This really sucks. We got a mortgage, two car payments and tons of freaking bills.”
