More than 70 local General Motors workers were on strike as of Monday morning.
The workers formed picket lines at the two entrances to the General Motors parts depot in Falls Township just after midnight. Workers picketed at the entrances on Cabot Boulevard and Stony Hill Road.
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Kieran Martin, a regional representative with United Auto Workers, said the workers will maintain the picket line around the clock for as long as the strike that impacts the 49,200 General Motors union workers.
The union talks were slated to continue with General Motors Monday morning.
The union is looking for more movement from the Detroit-based automaker on wages, health care, and dealing with temporary workers. General Motors said they’ve offered improve wages and benefits and new assembly lines in plants that it closed, according to the Associated Press.
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Among President Donald Trump’s 19 tweets on Sunday, one called for the union and automaker to strike a deal.
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United Auto Workers Vice President Terry Dittes, a member of the bargaining team, is from the Falls Township facility.
“We stood up for General Motors when they needed us most. Now we are standing together in unity and solidarity for our Members, their families and the communities where we work and live,” said Dittes.
Paul Callan, who works for General Motors, said there are lesser paid temporary workers who have been at the facility for years and are earning less than full-time employees due to their temporary status.
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“I want everyone to get the same pay because we’re all doing the same work,” the 20-year General Motors employee told LevittownNow.com.
The Falls Township center gets parts via truck and train and distributes them to General Motors plants throughout the country.
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On Cabot Boulevard Monday after daybreak, a delivery truck approached the entrance, honked in solidarity with the picketers and drove away without making the delivery.
General Motors last strike took place 12 years ago and also drew picket lines outside the Falls Township facility.
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