KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers, a union that represents employees at its assembly plants, continued Friday.
Members have been picketing for 12 days in the heat and rain as the two sides work out differences related to post-recession compensation.
"This is more than about the union and their fair wages and their health care," UAW Local 31 President Clarence Brown said. "Of course, those things matter. Of course, we are fighting for some of those things. But you know what else we are fighting for? We’re fighting for the American people who are the working families of this country."
UAW Local 31 represents workers at the Farofax Assembly and Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kansas.
The picket lines also have become a hot spot for politicians, including KCK Mayor David Alvey and KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas, who both have visited striking workers.
Former Vice President and current 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden visited last weekend.
The latest visitor Friday was Missouri State Auditor and 2020 gubernatorial candidate Nicole Galloway.
"They are out there fighting for all working families, not just members of labor, fighting for all working families who deserve an opportunity for themselves," Galloway said.
The union said its is fighting for better pay, improved health care and more jobs at GM plants nationwide.
GM counters that it has proposed a 2% wage increase and is investing billions of dollars into the company, including the hiring of thousands of workers.
Meanwhile, the workers will continue to picket in six-hour shifts, 24 hours a day until the the strike ends.
More coverage of the GM strike from KSHB:
Sept. 26: Maintenance crews return from temporary layoff
Sept. 26: GM, UAW deal may be near
Sept. 26: GM reinstates health care for striking workers
Sept. 24: Better pay, health care among hopes for striking GM workers
Sept. 24: Auto industry may soon feel strike's ripple effects
