Kim Woodward liked what she saw Wednesday morning as she was leaving work after her shift at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant.
A crowd of people gathered near the plant gates, many wearing shirts in red, the color of solidarity, as UAW leaders met with workers entering and leaving the plant off Van Dyke Avenue where the popular Ram 1500 pickup is built.
In past years to start contract talks, union presidents shook hands with company leaders in a public ceremony. But this year, the leadership of the United Auto Workers union is taking a different approach as evidenced by the “members’ handshake” outside the Stellantis plant’s gate as darkness gave way to morning light. It was the first of three meet-and-greets planned for the day, with the others scheduled for Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Assembly in Wayne and General Motors’ Factory Zero in Detroit. Contracts expire in September, with talks officially launching this week and next.
Woodward, who works in the plant’s quality department and lives in Detroit, said cost of living is her biggest concern right now and, motivated by the scene Wednesday, she said she planned to go home and read the union contract.
“It’s beautiful. I like what I see, just the people rallying, talking,” Woodward said.
Union President Shawn Fain, who held a Facebook Live session Monday evening where he announced that the “Big Three is our strike target,” said that meeting members outside the gates in this way creates energy.
Fain, who became president this year in the union’s first direct election of top leaders, said that traditionally the leadership has been seen as a far-off entity. Meeting members like this, allows them to “see us as one of them.”
As he shook hands and talked with workers, Fain touched on a range of topics, from the years it takes temporary workers — many putting in long hours — to get to full pay, to the need to ensure job security with Ford, GM and Stellantis and its predecessor companies closing more than 30 plants in 20 years.
Fain also talked about the need for unity.
“We’ve got to be in this together. This is about you. This is about our next generation,” he said, explaining that in the past, the union was a top-down hierarchy. “You elected me; I work for you.”
Rich Boyer, UAW vice president and head of the union’s Stellantis department, said workers are thankful for the change in tone.
“We’re back in the fight,” he said, describing it as a struggle for the “survival of the middle class.”
Boyer said he has seen too many plant closings in his 38 years, and getting new product in the plants will be key for the talks ahead.
Elizabeth Humphrey, 34, a team leader on the plant’s final line, said she’s excited.
“This is change. We voted these (leaders) in to represent us,” said Humphrey, who lives in St. Clair Shores. “The companies don’t respect us as workers.”
As for the prospect of a strike, Ciara Smith, of Sterling Heights, and Keisha Miller, who both work in assembly, were of like minds as they headed to their cars.
“I don’t want to, but I will,” Smith said.
“But we have to do what we need to do to get what we deserve,” Miller said.
“Solidarity,” they said in unison.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.