SPRING HILL — As UAW members entered their fifth consecutive week participating in a national strike of General Motors on Sunday, one picketer decided to bring a friend to the picket line — her 23-year old horse named Prince.

Jodie Basset, a Summertown resident who first joined the assembly line at General Motors' Spring Hill Plant in 2016, mounted her horse at the plant's south gate and rode along U.S. 31, past the GM-owned Haynes Haven mansion to join a group a picketers posted next to the major highway.

From atop the horse Basset waved an American flag and the union's picketing sign.

“I wanted to support the picket line and the entire middle class of America,” Basset told The Daily Herald. “What we are doing here is not just for us. It is for everyone. I thought it would be a unique way to bring attention to the fight that we are going through right now.”

As Basset and Prince made their way across an overpass to the plant's south gate, the two took photographs with a family joining their grandmother on the picket line.

When the two arrived at the picketing line along Nashville Highway, they were greeted by dozens of UAW members who stopped to meet the honorary union member.

Dozens stood side-by-side to take a photographs, with hundreds of acres of farmland owned by General Motors in the background.

A perfect match

Prince previously belonged to one of Basset's neighbors but the horse, a Percheron and Quarter Horse mix, would frequently wander onto her property, sometimes with a donkey accompanying him.

About a year ago, Basset, who spent her youth riding and began riding again just a few years earlier, took on the horse from her neighbor who could no longer ride.

Basset said Prince was perfect for the day's task as he had spent many years riding in parades.

“Nothing bothers him,” Basset said. “He is perfect for new riders and young children. He is just a sweet, kind soul.”

Standing strong for future generations

UAW Local 1853 Chairman Mike Herron visited the picket lines on Sunday and met the four-legged union member.

“I don't think there are going to be too many places in the country that has somebody on horseback with a UAW strike sign and an American flag," Herron said. "She is very special and we appreciate her coming out to show her spirit."

As the hot Tennessee summer quickly transitions to fall, many on the picket line are standing through the night in cold temperatures. They have started to maintain fires inside burn barrels and use gas-powered outdoor heating units to keep away the cold.

“Our folks on second and third shift are really enduring some cooler temperatures,” Herron said. “The burn barrels are stoked up but the enthusiasm is still high.”

The cost of the strike is taking a toll on workers and signs of the lack of a steady income have begun to become clear in Maury County with some local food pantries completely out of stock.

“There are a lot of people that are struggling financially and we would like to get people back to work as quickly as possible, but the overriding factor here is that we make sure we get a good contract," he continued.

At the Spring Hill plant, which includes 398 salaried positions and 2,630 hourly positions in the 7 million square-foot facility on 2,000 acres of land, workers have lost out on an estimated $5 million in pay since they first walked off the assembly line on Sunday, Sept. 16, joining more than 45,000 other General Motors employees from across the country.

“Entering week five, it is a struggle for a lot of us and our suppliers, but we are willing to hold the line as long as it takes to have a fair deal,” Basset said. “I believe we are making history right now and what we are doing here is going to help all of America's middle class.”

Analysts estimate that the strike has cost General Motors more than $1 billion, with more than 30 facilities at a standstill costing the company between $50 million and $100 million each day in lost production.

This is the longest strike of the company since 1970 when production was halted for more than 60 days. It is the first strike since the Great Recession and GM's bankruptcy in 2009. To help save the company, GM's employees worked up to 12-hour shifts seven days a week, all while returning record profits after GM declared bankruptcy and the company was forced to reorganize.

Herron described it as one of the “best turnarounds in the history of the business world.”

The strike has become a pursuit that Herron says is spanning generations, with families bringing children and grandchildren to the picket line.

“From grandkids to teenagers, it is important that they understand what this is about,” Herron said. “These contracts, this pay, it dose not get given to you out of the goodness of the company's heart. You have to fight for it. You have to negotiate for it, and it is good for these young folks that are coming up to understand that it is okay to stand up for yourself. While the wealth gap is ever widening, it is okay for the workers to say 'cut us in on our share.' We made this wealth and we at least deserve our fair share of that wealth.”

With a large number of new workers at the Spring Hill plant who were hired in 2012 and later, Herron says many workers at the plant are young members of the workforce, and this is their first opportunity to stand for better benefits and pay.

At the Spring Hill plant, one of the largest in the nation, workers assemble the Cadillac XT5, the GMC Acadia, the right-hand drive Holden and Cadillac XT6, the manufacturer's first three-row SUV.

The manufacturer has invested more than $2 billion in the facility since 2010.

As the strike nears a month in duration, union leadership said it continues to stand its ground for fair wages, affordable health care, job security and a path for temporary workers to get permanent seniority. Some workers at the Spring Hill plant have been considered temporaries for more than five years, union members said.

“We are fighting to bring jobs back to America,” Herron said. “You can have all best contract in the world, but if you don't have the best cars and trucks to build, a good contract does not do you any good.”