General Motors employee of 3.5 years Melissa Bowen, 32, of Burton raises her hand while picketing outside the General Motors Flint Engine Operations Plant during the 11th day of the strike on Thursday, Sep. 26, 2019 in Flint, Mich. Although she had been thinking about getting the tattoo for awhile, Bowen had it done the first Tuesday of the strike when a local tattoo shop offered discounts for striking union members.
The General Motors strike begins as United Auto Workers members and supporters cheer while the final shift leaves the Flint Assembly Plant just past midnight on Monday, Sep. 16, 2019 in Flint, Mich. After the current bargaining contract expired on Saturday, nearly 50,000 UAW GM employees across the country are set to walk off the job today.
The sun sets outside the General Motors Flint campus during the 31st day of the strike on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
General Motors employee of seven years Chinereye Settle, 40, of Davison pickets outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 11th day of the strike on Thursday, Sep. 26, 2019 in Flint, Mich. "We'll be out here as long as it takes," she said.
UAW members and supporters picket outside the General Motors Flint Metal Center on Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019 in Flint, Mich. After the current bargaining contract expired on Saturday, nearly 50,000 UAW General Motors employees across the country walked off the job at midnight on Monday.
General Motors temp employee Tyler Miller, 28, of Flint stands for a portrait outside the Flint Assembly Plant on Monday, Sep. 16, 2019 in Flint, Mich. After the current bargaining contract expired on Saturday, nearly 50,000 U.A.W. General Motors employees across the country are set to walk off the job today. Miller has worked for GM for 15 months and still hasn't been hired full time or received a raise.
UAW members and supporters picket outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant on Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019 in Flint, Mich. After the current bargaining contract expired on Saturday, nearly 50,000 UAW GM employees across the country walked off the job at midnight on Monday.
An American flag blows in the breeze outside the GM Flint Assembly Plant during the eighth day of the strike on Monday, Sep. 23, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
Fewer trucks than previous weeks line up outside the General Motors Flint Engine Operations Plant during the 25th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
UAW Local 659 members hang their sign from 1956 on the front of the building in Flint, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. "We knew if we didn't do it on the last day of the strike it wouldn't get done," financial secretary Duane Ballard said.
General Motors temporary employee Shaquala Watson, 27, of Burton holds onto her sleeping son Rylan Hurt, 2, while picketing outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 11th day of the strike on Thursday, Sep. 26, 2019 in Flint, Mich. Watson started at the plant this past April.
UAW members and supporters unload wood for the fire outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 18th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
UAW members show off their tattoos for a portrait outside Flint Assembly in Flint, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.
A truck door acts as a strike calendar outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 25th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
UAW members and supporters picket outside the General Motors Flint Engine Operations Plant on Monday, Sep. 16, 2019 in Flint, Mich. After the current bargaining contract expired on Saturday, nearly 50,000 UAW General Motors employees across the country are set to walk off the job today.
UAW Local 598 financial secretary Chad Fabbro, 44, of Vassar sorts through strike checks in the hall's basement on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 in Flint, Mich. Each Friday Fabbro and members sort through and confirm each check for the local's more than 5,000 members. With the new weekly strike pay raised to $275, this week's checks were worth more than $1.4 million.
UAW Local 598 member and Aramark Sanitation employee Amanda Van Leuven, 40, of Flushing eats a cheeseburger while holding onto her sign outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the eighth day of the strike on Monday, Sep. 23, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
American flags hang on a fence outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 18th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
Erica Thompson, 46, helps her grandson Mason Butler, 4, get dressed at her home on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019 in Flint Township, Mich. Mason is autistic and Erica helps cares for him daily because of his mother's work schedule.
Erica Thompson was hired as a temporary employee at General Motors Lake Orion Assembly in 2008 and became full-time in 2012. She now works at Flint Assembly in trim.
UAW members and supporters picket outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 18th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
GM employee LaTonia Alexander, 50, of Chesterfield Township pickets outside the Flint Assembly Plant on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 in Flint, Mich. UAW Local 598 voted for the new contract today. Alexander has been working at GM for 11 years and voted no on the new contract. "We're not a union right now we're units," she said. "We need to get back to a union. Can't have a union when everybody has different agendas. All for one, one for all so we can become a strong union again."
General Motors employee Erica Thompson, 46, and daughter Jasmine Thompson, 11, wait to cash her strike check at Walmart on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
During the strike she and her family have been budgeting and have eliminated weekly dinners out. While she used to save 10% of her paycheck prior to the strike, she now plans on saving 15% in the future.
General Motors employee of 14 years Chris Snooks, 34, of Swartz Creek grills outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 25th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
Food scraps and the sign-in sheet sit in a tent in front of the Flint Assembly Plant in Flint, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.
GM employee Erica Thompson, 46, cooks dinner for her children and grandchildren at her home on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019 in Flint Township, Mich. Because of the strike she and her husband eliminated their weekly family dinners out on Fridays. Prior to the strike she had been saving 10% of her pay check, but now plans to save 15%.
GM temporary employee Leaira Laury, 20, of Flint tries to avoid the mud with her newly painted toe nails while walking to picket outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 18th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 in Flint, Mich. Laury and her sister — who is homecoming princess — got their nails done in preparation for the parade tomorrow.
General Motors temporary employee of two months Sharron Stephenson, 34, of Ypsilanti talks on the phone while picketing outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 25th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
UAW members and supporters picket outside the General Motors Flint Engine Operations Plant during the 31st day of the strike on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 in Flint, Mich. The UAW and General Motors reached a tentative deal today.
A UAW Local 598 member enters to vote on the new General Motors contract on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Union City Fields in Flint, Mich.
GM employee of 39 years Lisa Flores, 70, of Pontiac pickets outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 11th day of the strike on Thursday, Sep. 26, 2019 in Flint, Mich. "I really feel bad for some of these young people here," she said after she mentioned that she's not hurting financially like she would have when she was younger.
UAW Local 598 members leave after voting on the new General Motors contract on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Union City Fields in Flint, Mich.
GM temporary employee and UAW Local 598 member Leronda Vines, 33, of Davison and daughter Mariah Kellum, 2, stand for a portrait after voting on the new contract at Union City Fields on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 in Flint, Mich. Vines voted against the new contract. "As a temp I still don't feel secure," she said.
UAW Local 598 members vote on the new General Motors contract on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at Union City Fields in Flint, Mich.
GM temporary employee of four years and UAW Local 598 member Airyonna Vincent, 26, of Flint stands for a portrait after voting on the new contract outside the Union City Fields on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 in Flint, Mich. UAW Local 598 voted yes on the new contract today. Vincent voted no. "I don't think we're going to get hired anytime soon," she said.
A man who wishes to remain unidentified pickets outside the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant during the 25th day of the strike on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
UAW Local 598 alternate committee man Bo Browning, 39, circles the last day of the strike on the door calendar outside Flint Assembly on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 in Flint, Mich. The new UAW GM contract has been ratified.
UAW Local 598 alternate committee men Stanley Dulaney, Jr., 34, and Will McIntosh, 38, and member Dawn DeKalita, 48, embrace after hearing that the new UAW GM contract was ratified outside the Flint Assembly Plant in Flint, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.
General Motors employee of 19 years Huey Harris, 59, cleans up after the strike outside the Flint Engine Operations Plant on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 in Flint, Mich. Harris transferred from Lordstown in February and his wife still lives in Ohio. Harris currently stays with a cousin in Flint and is able to travel back to Ohio for holidays. He missed his granddaughter's fifth birthday last week. Even though the strike was over he decided to still come out and help clean up. "It's my turn to be out here and somebody has to help clean up," he said.
The sun sets on a parking lot outside the General Motors Flint Engine Operations Plant during the eighth day of the strike on Monday, Sep. 23, 2019 in Flint, Mich.
UAW Local 598 member and GM electrician Michael Perez, 48, of Saginaw eats breakfast at Capitol Coney Island before going back to work on Saturday Oct. 26, 2019 in Flint, Mich. The 40-day strike ended yesterday. Working is voluntary this weekend, with employees required to report starting on Monday.
As Long as it Takes
For the New York Times
When it began, people rallied in parking lots, their fists thrust in the air. Nearly 50,000 United Auto Workers members had walked off the job across the country on Sept. 16, the first time a union had declared a nationwide strike against one of the Detroit automakers since 2007. Workers outside the General Motors truck factory in Flint were ready for a fight.
“We’ll be out here as long as it takes,” said Chinereye Settle.
Some days there weren’t as many car horns cheering on the workers. Some days the weather was too hot, too wet, too cold, too muddy. Some days strikers preferred to sit rather than stand. Some days it sunk in that rent would be tight or that groceries would need to come from the dollar store. Some days they held their breath anticipating an end, only to accept the reality hours later that nothing had changed and that there was still only a $250-a-week subsidy from the union to take home.
One month after the strike began, on Oct. 16, negotiators with the union and the automaker came to an agreement. News of the deal rippled throughout the picket line. Some were satisfied, others felt that not much had changed, but they needed to go back to work.
Unions across the country spent the next week voting.
After the news poured in that the contract had passed, UAW members popped champagne, lit cigars, and embraced one another. They talked of how they both started and finished the 40 days together.
Later, after the initial celebration of the contract’s passage had died down, the same group, now subdued, sat around one last fire as the sun set over the plant.
Huey Harris, 59, began shaking out tarps and picking up discarded cans. He has worked for GM for 19 years but just this year transferred to the Flint plant from the now-shuttered Lordstown, Ohio, facility. His wife still lives in Ohio, while Mr. Harris stays with a cousin in Flint.
Even though the strike ended before his scheduled four-hour picketing shift that started at 7 p.m., he still showed up. “It’s my turn to be out here and somebody has to help clean up.”