The year 2023 has been a challenging one thus far for Ray Crawford, a 24-year-old veteran at Stellantis Mopar Center Line Parts Center and striking United Auto Workers (UAW) member. 

Crawford, a stage three prostate cancer survivor, hopes that the strike ends soon, but not before he and his UAW colleagues win each of their negotiation demands. 

“It’s been rough,” he told the Advance about his health on Wednesday. 

Nonetheless, Crawford is resolute when it comes to the strike. 

“We’ll be out here one day longer than the company,” he said.  

About 25,000 UAW members are striking at 43 locations across 21 states for the Detroit Three auto manufacturers. Fifteen of them are located in Michigan.The labor union is fighting for increased wages, a 32-hour work week and better pension benefits, among other issues such as an end to tiered compensation between workers with different lengths of service.

 For the first time in the union’s history, all three Detroit automakers are the strike targets.

Crawford has endured the challenges of cancer, which included surgery in February. For most of the year, he’s been away from work and living on disability pay. 

“I was off work until the beginning of August, had to go through chemo and radiation,” Crawford said. “Got back to work, and had only been back for about a month, and now we’re on strike. Now I’m [living] on strike funds.”

His strike pay is about $500 per week, but that money can go quickly. 

“My dog eats a $40 bag of food in a week,” Crawford chuckled. 

Crawford walks the picket line two or three days a week and now looks to make ends meet on strike pay. He was on the picket line on Thursday morning until it was time to go to his doctor’s appointment. 

The UAW represents about 150,000 members across the country. For the first time in the union’s history, all three Detroit automakers — Stellantis, Ford and General Motors — are the strike targets.The “Stand Up Strike” effort, which has been carried out in stages, began Sept. 15.  

UAW President Shawn Fain is set to announce at 2 p.m. Friday if more workers will be called up to strike.

Meanwhile, the UAW on Wednesday released “Broken Promises,” a new video that addresses the union’s ongoing strike against the automakers. 

The video, narrated by UAW President Shawn Fain, “describes the deal made during the Great Recession when the auto industry was on the brink of collapse.” 

“The deal was, UAW members take some short-term cuts for the long-term survival of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler,” Fain says in the video. 

Those short-term cuts have lasted 15 years. Autoworkers hired after 2007 have been denied the pensions and retiree health care coverage won by generations of UAW members before them. The starting wages of post-2007 workers were slashed, and it now takes eight years for a full-time UAW member to reach top pay.

A tier compensation system pays veteran employees considerably more than workers with less seniority. That has caused morale and tension issues between workers, Crawford said. The UAW wants to eliminate the tiered system. 

“We believe we have a compelling offer that would reward our team members and allow GM to succeed and thrive into the future. We continue to stand ready and willing to negotiate in good faith 24/7 to reach an agreement,” General Motors said Thursday in a statement.

In spite of the challenges, Crawford said that the strike has helped UAW workers of different tier compensation levels to bond. 

“Being on the strike line has actually brought comradery [among striking members] and brought us together,” Crawford said. “It’s made us realize that we’re all we got.” 

Additionally, Crawford fully backs his union and said that Fain’s leadership has helped to restore his confidence in the 88-year-old labor organization after several years of high profile federal corruption probe that involved Gary Jones and Dennis Williams, both former UAW presidents. Both served prison time.  

“We are fortified. We are 1,000% behind union leadership,” said Crawford. 

 • • •• • •

This story is provided by Michigan Advance, a part of States Newsroom, a national 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. See the original story here.