United Auto Workers union members, or UAW, went on strike today in support of a national effort. About 60 employees at the General Motors parts warehouse in the North Valleys hit the picket line today, closing GM’s local parts and distribution warehouse.
The national strike is occurring at various Ford, General Motors and Stellantis auto plants around the country – but not all at once. Strikes were expanded to 38 locations in 20 states. The Reno GM location is one of those 38 locations.
Alan Carrillo, president of UAW Local 2162, said the strike is about fair wages and benefits. UAW members are calling on all labor movement members and community allies to join them on the picket line.
About two dozen people were picketing today, shutting down the GM facility. A second shift of workers joined the picketing effort later today.
“We’re getting the short end of the stick,” Carrillo told This Is Reno. “We’re not just doing it for us, for our union. We’re doing it for the American worker.
“A lot of pay and wages are based on the East Coast, and things are a bit cheaper … so the cost of living where we live just doesn’t add up.”
Carrillo said benefits for retirees are also part of the issue.
Local union officials said UAW members at the big three auto manufacturers “have been standing up for their families, for our communities, and against corporate greed. They have demanded their fair share of the quarter-million dollars in North American profits that they made for the companies over the last 10 years.”
Workers are requesting cost of living adjustments they said have been frozen since 2009. They are calling for an end to pay tiers that they said create a divided workplace.
