KOKOMO, Ind — While things heat up on the UAW picket lines in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, one employee at a Kokomo Stellantis plant said things change hourly.
"There are some people that are a little upset but somewhat confused about pay. If we are not striking, there's no strike pay. If we are laid off due to labor issues, then there's no unemployment," Lisa Boyd said.
That could be the employees' next challenge. Stellantis recently announced its plans to potentially lay off 300 employees at the Kokomo Transmission and Kokomo Casting plants. It comes after they already temporarily laid off 68 employees at the Toledo Machining Plant.
Boyd is a UAW member and works at Stellantis Casting. She said it's now more important than ever for the community to support them.
"If the community backs us, then, in turn, they're going to also benefit from what we benefit from," Boyd said. "We can afford to do more. Some of us can afford newer vehicles, the house we want, go out to eat and take our kids places."
With so much at stake, they're waiting to find out if they're going to be the next group to join the picket line Friday. They said they're ready if that's the case. They already have burn barrels and portable toilets outside the plant.
"We all know where we are supposed to go, where we are supposed to report, what we are supposed to do for the most part," Boyd said.
They want people to know this is not just about money.
"This is about the future. If we do good, the community does good. That's all across the United States," Boyd said. "The union is about keeping jobs here. That's one other thing we want — we want job security."
Stellantis is offering the union a new contract proposal. A company spokesperson said the offer primarily covers non-economic issues. Now, they wait to see if the automakers and the union can reach some agreement before the UAW's Friday deadline.