UAW workers officially go on strike at Ford Michigan Assembly Plant

It's time to get to work. You know we want our fair share. You know we gave up a lot when the auto industry collapsed a few years ago. You know we gave it up voluntarily. Now is the time for them to give it. Come back willingly, you know, CEOs make billions of dollars and we still can't even af

ford

the cars we built, so it's time we take back what's ours, that's all, how it's been in the

plant

until today, you know? Throughout the week, after the negotiations, how do you think it went and what was the atmosphere like?

There has been a lot of faith in our UAW. You know, we have great leadership. At the national and local level, they have always kept us informed. They have always kept us informed. I prepared like that and I was just trying to get down to business now and for you personally, what is it going to be like to be on

strike

? Have 500 per week on

strike

paying. Will he be here every day? What is your plan for the future? Yes, I will be here every day. I'm not excited about the 500, but it takes some time to get a lot of things done.

You know what I'm saying, so I have to do what I have to do to get my old self back, that's all I'll do. Ask Chris too because it's just

assembly

and painting that's on strike so you're part of the factor here, you're not on strike, stamping an Isa and the bodies that aren't on strike right now, no No, no We know if we are going. They are going to go on strike. They may do it. Meanwhile, we still don't know what your role is. What are you here today with everyone? What are you going to be? to do this is to support everyone, you know, I'm not on strike yet, but I have to support my team, my family here and I guess you're in the local 900, you probably know a lot of people who are on strike like they've even been talking to them and hearing from them and what that has been like.

We've just been trying to sit together and stay together and just one day at a time to see how the negotiations emerge on the latter. question I'll ask you both. I guess you could say the big three, but I'll direct it specifically to Ford, since they both work at Ford. What message do you want to send to Jim Farley and Ford leadership? I just won a fair contract, it hasn't been fair, I couldn't do what we do down the line, so we make this company billions of dollars behind our backs, you know what I'm saying, my parents retired from here You know, give us what. we deserve that's all that's all we're asking for nothing more nothing less just give us what we deserve a lot of new people don't have any pension take care of the retirees Tyrese take care of the retirees well thank you guys For talking to us, I thank you again, now that you can see a hub of activity here that's really been building over the last hour.

We've seen Congresswoman Debbie Dingle. We've seen Congresswoman Rasheeda Talib here also supporting these UAW members and the strike again. she had just started at midnight here at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, but for now I live in Wayne. I'm brettcast 7 Action News Brett, this is Carolyn. I know it's a lot of noise out there, but I want you to ask one of them if they received official information. of your Union president, Fain, is he the one who told them to leave or did they just leave because of time? I wish you could hear my question, let me ask you, so I don't know if Jeremiah is still here, were you at work today?

Or were you working at the

plant

and left? That worked, yeah, so how did you find out about the strike? Were you watching Facebook live? Absolutely, that's what I love about our new president, who uses Facebook live. He knows. that almost everyone has Facebook, so that was his way of keeping us informed of everything that was going on, so once he said it I knew it was time to get to work, so I didn't need instructions for anyone, everyone who were working knew it. that you were going to leave at midnight, the company actually let us go home at 11, anticipating it as their way of, I guess, clearing everyone out, uh peacefully, you know it worked out well, everyone left peacefully and we got right to the picket line.

We knew what time it was, so knowing that that was going to happen once the company found out that they actually had, they stopped

assembly

themselves or at least production themselves and sent yourselves to stop production themselves and We leave at 11 o'clock. watch, yeah, it's probably not something you expected to happen, it's not something I expected, not even something I wanted, but it's something I'll do, you know, I don't want to attack, but I will, we'll support it all the way. Oh my goodness, thank you all again, Carolyn. I hope that answers your question. Apparently they were because we saw some people walking around at 11.

I didn't realize they were actually walking away at that time. I didn't know they had actually closed. At the time I was thinking we'd wait until midnight for it to happen, so apparently that's what they discovered, inside, listening to Sean Fain's words and they left at 11. That certainly cleared everything up for us, raised here. I guess when we saw them come out and leave, I guess he told them to close it. It's interesting to see how that communication develops. Get on the picket line.