Nearly 50,000 United Automobile Workers are on strike as they protest General Motors.  Those protests are happening at the GM Customer Care & Aftersales facility on Echo Blvd. in Stead.Â
"Why GM?" chanted Michael Daniels. "Why you do us like that?"
Daniels has worked for General Motors for 38 years. He says employees at the Stead facility are fed up.
"We don't feel appreciated whatsoever," he said. " That's how a lot of us feel."
These picketers are calling for the same thing other union members from across the nation want, including better health insurance.
"We want health care for the families," said Celia Rosales, another employee who has been with General Motors for 34 years.
They also want a cost of living adjustment.
"The cost of living, man," said Daniels. "We haven't had a cost of living change in over 15 years. Â Everything is going up but our paychecks."
They are also calling for better pay for temporary employees. They want to see their wages be comparable to permanent workers.
"They get 15.78 starting," said Rosales. "Once you become a permanent employee you start out at 29 an hour."
"We do hard work in these assembly plants," said Daniels. "They think we have easy work in these part plants? We move thousands of pounds of metal a day."
General Motors made $8.1 billion in profit last year.
"They're making billions of dollars, you know," said Daniels.
Employees want to see more of that money make it to them.
"Now that they are making record profits, we just want a share in that," said Rosales.
Another reason for the strike, they say, is because they care. They care about their coworkers, their union, and their company.
"We care about our jobs," said Rosales.  "We care about the future of GM. We care about the future of our union's brothers and sisters."
As for how long they will picket, they will be outside their factory as long as it takes.Â
"I hope we go back to work tomorrow," said Daniels. "But we'll stay out here as long as we have to to get what we deserve."
