(WXYZ) — This weekend marks one year since the historic UAW Stand Up Strike. Last fall, thousands of workers across the United States for Ford, General Motors and Stellantis walked out of plants.
Some workers were on the picket line for 40 days of fighting for what they believed was a fair contract.
Those workers stood on the picket line, holding signs, until a deal was struck between the union and the Big Three that included a 25% raise, the restoration of Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) and much more.
Now, I'm taking a look back and raising the voices of workers who say the impact of the strike is still seen today.
WATCH BELOW: 2023 report as the UAW went on strike and Shawn Fain marched with workers
When the strike started, the UAW targeted three plants – the Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio, and a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri. It continued to grow to other plants over the course of several weeks.
"Really at the time, I think nobody wanted to strike, but as the time got closer and closer to the deadline, it was more like people did want to strike because you could see it wasn’t really going in the direction that we all was hoping it was going to go," Yolanda Passement, a worker at GM's Factory Zero plant, said.
The strike lasted for 40 days and it was the first time the union employed a new strike strategy where they targeted specific sites at certain times.
WATCH BELOW: UAW leaders provide update on tentative agreement with GM
"We’ve given up break times, we’ve given up pay raises, we’ve given up a lot of benefits and a lot of the kids nowadays they cannot work in these jobs and support their family," Frankie Westberry, a worker at Stellantis' Warren Truck Plant, said.
It was a fight especially important to Westberry, who comes from a long line of autoworkers and has worked at the Warren Truck plant for more than two decades.
"My grandfather fought for the union back in the 30s. He came from Sicily back in 1920 and there was a lot of bloodshed and this was for the people to be able to go to the bathroom," he said.
After six weeks of living on $500 in weekly strike pay and grinding operations at plants to a halt, the automakers and union reached the historic deal.
"We had lost so much. Not just the UAW, but other unions had lost so much, the community had lost so much throughout the years and now this was our one fight back and we could prove to others that it could be done. You can stand up and you can do it also," Passement said.
It's estimated that the Big Three lost nearly $4 billion in revenue when it was all said in done. Wayne State Professor Marick Masters said those impacts are still being felt today as automakers work to go electric.
"Even though it’s a one-off incident, if you will those impacts of the strike itself affect the bottom line," he said. "And also, you have the impact of the union contract raising labor costs which exists over a longer period of time and builds into future roll ups."
Even still, workers say there’s more to fight for in the years to come like retiree benefits and pensions.
"After all that do you feel like it was worth it for what you guys got?" I asked.
"Oh yes. I think it was worth it. I think it was a stepping stone. It needed to be done. There was a lot that we had lost and we gave up and we were told that we were going to get back," Passement said.
"Yes. It’s about the dollar but then again it’s more about human dignity, you know, caring about the person in line next to you," Westberry added.
