LANSING, Mich. — Time is ticking on the picket line.
The UAW workers at Lansing’s GM Distribution Center have entered day 4 of their strike, with the same demands as day one: better pay, improved health care and the end of a tiered wage system.
“If you don’t fight, you don’t get it,” said striker Charlie Bufford.
Plants like Lansing's GM distribution center are smaller for a company this size, but they bring a big impact.
“When the dealerships need parts, from accidents or repairs, they can order the parts from us and we ship them to them,” Bufford said.
At Lansing’s distribution center, we’re told the plant ships out over 1000 parts per day.
“They may lose billions of dollars,” said financial expert Charles Nemes.
Nemes said distribution centers being closed could not only have an impact on the company financially, but it will also start impacting customers.
“So if companies don’t have parts to produce, they have to shut down their lines or slow them down and it could be 6 months to a year before a person gets their car fixed, depending on how long this strike lasts,” Nemes said.
We reached out to GM for comment, but they have not gotten back to us.
Going back to the picket line, some UAW workers said they feel bad for letting customers down, but they said they have to continue to fight.
“We are going to be out here as long as it takes to get what we need,” Bufford said.
