LITHONIA, Ga. — “We’re striking for better pay and benefits and against unfair treatment by supervisors,” Myra Williams, a union representative for United Auto Workers Local 472, told these Militant worker-correspondents outside the Woodbridge Corp. plant here Nov. 8. “Safety is a big concern and the forced overtime. There’s no balance between work and family life — it’s all work and no family!”
In the first strike in the local’s history, about 70 union members walked out Oct. 30. They voted by 98% to authorize strike action in August.
The workers make seating and dashboard components for Yamaha and Nissan cars and golf carts. Strikers say the company is hiring temporary workers and trying to keep one shift going.
Spirits are high on the picket line. Waving signs and shouting union slogans, strikers were answered by a steady stream of horn blasts from passing trucks and cars.
“We’re trying to get rid of the two tiers they started in 2009,” said Shawn Milligan, second shift union representative at Woodbridge. “New hires start at about $15 an hour and by the time the next contract rolls around, they still won’t have gotten to top pay.”
“And top pay here for a production job is only $20.50 an hour,” added Neal Turner. “That’s what I make after 31 years in the plant.”
“This strike has been a long time coming,” said Keith Walker, who has worked at Woodbridge for 34 years. “We’re tired of being forced to work all this overtime because they won’t hire enough people. Then when work is slow, they send people home after four or five hours. It’s totally wrong.”
Many of the workers at Woodbridge have been there for decades, strikers said, and a majority are women. We met union members originally from Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Cuba on the picket line. “This strike is a good thing,” said one worker from Nigeria who has worked there 14 years. “How else are we going to get a raise?”