ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) —The UAW local 2209 bargaining chairman Rich LeTourneau is doing everything he can to avert a strike.
This time around it’s not about pay for the 4,000 GM workers who produce 1,500 GMC Sierras every day at the Roanoke plant.
It’s about senior workers, shift scrambles and leadership shenanigans, according to LeTourneau.
“Every week, 253 of my senior people are playing musical chairs to fill the openings. They’re switching senior workers around to take care of the slots that were filled by the temporary workers,” LeTourneau explained.
These senior workers have been working first shift for years and are now working “outside their classifications.”
The order came from the local GM leadership. “It violates our agreement and quite frankly, it affects the welfare of these people immediately because they’re not young people. These people are 55, 60 years old.
“I’ve never seen it happen and I’ve been here since the inception in 1997,” said LeTourneau, referring to senior workers getting moved to work other shifts. Team leaders, some of whom have 25 to 30 years at the plant, have paid their dues.