Inside Out: The Reflections of a Salaried Worker During the UAW Strike

I was dreading the day, but knew it was coming. The United Auto Workers were going on strike.

In the weeks leading up to the strike I was experiencing a huge range of emotions from fear to guilt to sadness. I have been a machinist my entire career and now I work as a salaried technician at General Motors, a blue-collar worker categorized as a white-collar worker because I work under the engineering umbrella. I manufacture prototype propulsion systems for GM’s upcoming electric vehicles. When I was offered and accepted the position about two and a half years ago, I didn’t really understand the dynamic of working adjacent to a union shop. In the past I had only ever worked in small machine shops and family owned businesses, so unions were a pretty foreign concept to me.

Since 2016 I have been getting more involved in activism and politics. At first with the Democratic Party, then the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, then with the Green Party’s anti-fracking legislation and now with the Democratic Socialists of America. Being a member of those groups has given me exposure to unions, union membership and union dynamics. Coming from a very rural background I had never seen anyone on strike, a picket line or anything that goes along with contract negotiation until I taken part in actions that were supporting the striking nurses in Toledo, OH in early 2019. This opened my eyes to what it meant to be in support of union labor.

I hear that term a lot in leftist circles, “Support labor.”

Unsurprisingly, when I heard that the UAW was going to walk out and strike in September of 2019, I was extremely emotional. What do I do to support them and the movement? Do I quit my job? Do I walk out and strike with them and get fired? Is getting myself fired for standing in solidarity the best thing overall for the movement? Having no job means I can’t pay my bills, which in turn means I can’t donate money and volunteer my time to better other people’s lives. Remember, I have no protection. No union. No strike pay. It’s just me flying solo trying to protect myself, but at the same time trying to uplift my fellow laborers. Because it’s been a repeated phrase that I’ve heard at DSA meetings and from comrades in other organizations, I felt it was my duty to support labor, which led me to thinking about the layoffs at GM in early 2019.

In the spring of 2019, 8,000 of my fellow salaried workers were either forced into early retirement or laid off. It was one of the hardest, most stressful times of my life. For the entire four months that the process lasted, we had no idea who was staying and who was going, and I could see the fear and worry that I was feeling reflected in my coworker’s eyes. The difference between the layoffs at GM and the UAW strike at GM, is that we had no support from the left. Hell, we had no support from anyone. No rallies(though there were many to support the closing of UAW plants during this time), picket lines, fundraisers or politicians showing up in support of our labor. Why? Is an engineer’s labor somehow worth less than a forklift driver’s? Is unorganized labor different and somehow less justified than organized labor? Or is it that we couldn’t strike and picket so the opportunity for photo ops and soundbites weren’t there for organizations and politicians to co-opt? Unfortunately, “support labor” doesn’t mean supporting all laborers to most people on the left, it only means supporting organized labor. Yes, this still bothers me, and I am still bitter about it, but I still think that the UAW wanting a fair contract is something that they deserve and should stand for.

So, in the days leading up to the strike I reached out to some of my fellow leftist organizers, told them my predicament and asked for their advice. Every person responded with, “Man. That is a terrible spot to be in,” or something very close to those sentiments. No one really had any solid advice on what path would be the best to choose, but a close friend of mine pointed out that we are all just pawns in this capitalist system and that I shouldn’t beat myself up over having to work to survive.

On the first day of the strike I was a complete mess. Luckily my father called me on my way to work and gave me some words of encouragement. He reminded me that I wasn’t a scab and I wasn’t taking work from the UAW, but that I was doing the same exact job that I was before the strike, making parts for electric vehicles to help improve the environment, something that he knows is near to my heart. As I approached the plant, I caught my first glimpse of the picket line. People holding signs and standing along the sidewalk, your typical strike scene. At my entrance gate there wasn’t any striking workers, so I entered without crossing the picket line and had a completely uneventful workday. When I got home from work and checked social media, I saw the news that the scene was very different in Warren and Flint, MI. There were many more striking workers out in front of the plants, and they were much more agitated as compared to the people at the plant where I work. I saw comments on social media stating that all people working during a strike are scabs, strikebreakers or company goons. There were some people going as far as saying that they would rather die than ever work during a strike. I was taken aback and crushed to think that people in the same activist organizations that I am in, who I have organized side-by-side with would say things like this about me, whether directly or indirectly.

We’re being too critical of some, not enough of others.

The criticism I felt as a person who continued to labor during an adjacent work stoppage led me to do a lot of soul searching and self reflection of my values and ideological stances. I am guilty of holding others to the same standards as myself, which is unfair, especially with people who aren’t involved with leftist organizing. Consideration needs to be taken for average people who have innocently never even thought about how their work or actions might affect the bigger picture. As an organizer, I need to get better at not being so critical but rather be a more understanding teacher and example. On the other hand, seeing how salaried, non-union laborers were treated led me to reflect on the left’s unwavering support of labor unions and their demands. The United Auto Workers are demanding a more equitable pay scale, better working conditions, and more jobs in kept in the United States, which these demands are fair but what are these jobs producing? Unfortunately, these jobs are manufacturing gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs which are adding to an already dire climate crisis. As environmentalists, should leftist organizations be supporting workers who are making a product that is harming the environment? Should we be supporting the United Mine Workers of America who want to continue mining coal and ravaging ecosystems in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia just because they’re a labor union? Should we be supporting the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers when they are manufacturing weapons of war and tools of surveillance just because they are organized labor? Or should we be supporting all laborers who are producing zero emission vehicles and sustainable energy solutions regardless of organized or unorganized status?

Blue-collar, white-collar, no-collar, we are all pawns in this capitalist system just trying to survive.

We must realize that all labor, organized or not, is most valuable to the capitalist class and they will stop at nothing to divide and conquer us. We will be baited into clawing for what little compensation we can get, most times at the detriment of our fellow laborers, the environment and the human race. Going forward I think that balance is going to be very important. Balancing our ideals with the reality of everyday life is what is going to build a movement. Hard line stances and unwavering support of anything or anyone will only alienate possible allies and cause infighting and sectarianism. Let’s respect each others stances, values and experiences and try to come to a consensus on our leftward trajectory. Let’s have compassion for people who are tirelessly working to improve all kinds of labor conditions, as well as working towards a healthier environment and planet for the next generation. Most importantly, let’s have the kind of solidarity that everyone can be a part of.