Auto worker strike highlights disparities between temporary and permanent employees
Among the many changes being sought by striking United Auto Workers is an end to a system that pays workers much different wages for doing the same job
TOLEDO, Ohio — When Rhonda Naus got a job inspecting Jeep Wranglers fresh off the assembly line, her paycheck added up to roughly half of what her co-workers were making. But with that came an expectation that her temporary status eventually would become permanent with a big jump in wages.
Six years later, she's still doing the same work as her colleagues at Stellantis and still making a lot less.
“I knew I had to start at the bottom. I didn’t think I’d be at the bottom forever," said Naus, who's among thousands of striking United Auto Workers nationwide pushing for pay and benefit increases along with an end to multiple tiers of wages for workers across the companies.
From office workers to delivery drivers, companies have become increasingly reliant on temporary workers. Automakers have used the lower-paid workers for years to fill in for absent and vacationing full-time employees and to staff up when production increases.
Tiers for the Detroit automakers were created starting in 2007 as the UAW tried to help them out of serious financial troubles. Even so, GM and Chrysler ended up in government-funded bankruptcies.
Today, union leaders say the Detroit automakers are abusing the system to save money by treating temps like full-time workers — one major point of contention in current contract talks that has led to more than 25,000 auto workers going on strike.
“Temp work has to be temporary work," said UAW President Shawn Fain weeks before the strike began. «We’re going to end the abuse of temps.”
The union is also asking for pay raises as part of the contract
Read more on abcnews.go.com
