DETROIT (WXYZ) — It's business as usual at the Stellantis Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. The automaker was spared from further picketing this week after UAW president Shawn Fain announced the latest facilities to join the strike.
Friday afternoon, a caravan of Big Three workers in vehicles manufactured by the Big 3 made its way to the UAW Solidarity House on Jefferson.
Fain addressed those UAW members in the parking lot, two hours after announcing no new Stellantis facilities will join the strike this week.
It was relevant news to that group of auto workers as the majority of them are employed at the Toledo Jeep Assembly Complex. It was one of the first three sites to strike.
More than 5,500 employees are at that plant, including Detroiters Brandon Horton and Natasha Sanders who've been getting by on strike pay for two weeks now.
"Hearing them not taking action against Stellantis on further closure of plants or striking plants, that's good news. So, that means we're getting them into position that beneficial for all the employees," Horton told 7 Action News.
Sanders said, "I was really concerned because so far we hadn't really been doing a good job of bargaining or coming to the table. So, I was actually happy to hear that they are making some concessions and they're some movement."
What those concessions are and what that movement looks like, Fain would not elaborate on. However, he said before his scheduled Facebook Live Friday morning, Stellantis managed to meet some metrics the UAW set for the automaker. That appears to be similar to what occurred with Ford last week, but it's been a never-ending tango.
Fain told news media, "Bargaining is always a two-way street. We have been willing to make moves on things. We've made movement on things. We try to accommodate some concerns the companies have but at the end of the day then they seem to move the goal line."
Workers are hoping negotiations with Stellantis don't take a step back.
Auston Gore said, "We didn't choose to do this, the companies chose for us to do it because they didn't want to bargain a fair contract for us at first. If they're making progress that's great. That's what they should do."
Lisa Pickens said, "I think it's a good move forward. I hope it continues to go that way. I hope we don't end up moving backward like Ford ended up doing I see, and we shall see from here."
Another convoy to the UAW Solidarity House is planned for 8 p.m.
