Striking UAW Workers in NY State Push for an End to Tiered Pay
The workers who have marched out of the Chrysler Parts Depot in Tappan, N.Y., are all Stellantis employees, all handle the same auto parts and are all members of the United Auto Workers union.
But they aren’t all paid on the same scale.
“You’re working next to somebody and you guys do the same job, but he has certain things that you don’t have, and he gets paid a certain way that you don’t get paid,” said UAW Local 3039 President Jeffrey Purcell.
The 2019 contract included separate pay scales for parts-distribution workers like the people at this plant, which is around 25 miles northwest of New York City.
It all depends on whether an employee was hired before or after October 2015.
Both rates start at $17 an hour, though because the cutoff was four years before the contract was signed, higher-tier workers made at least $21 when the new system kicked in. The maximum rate for each group is achieved after eight years, with $28 for the higher tier and $25 for the lower.
The 2019 contract that established the divide expired on Sept. 14. UAW workers at three plants went on strike the following day — one for each of the big three auto manufacturers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which was formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The Chrysler depot in Tappan was one of 38 workplaces across 20 states that went on strike on Sept. 22.
That wave was the first escalation in a novel strategy dubbed a “stand-up strike” by UAW. Instead of all workers walking out simultaneously, the union is calling on employees to strike facility by facility as a way to leverage the threat of further action.
“It gives the bargainers a lot more power,” said Purcell. “If you put everybody out, you hit the company with the biggest load it could take. But if you do it one by one, that’s like, ‘OK, if you bargain in good faith, we’re not going to do something.’”
The new strategy is already showing to be more flexible and precise than a traditional strike. Only GM and Stellantis were included in the latest wave of strikes, as union leadership felt satisfied with Ford’s negotiations at the time.
“You work with us, we’re going to work with you,” said Purcell. “But if you’re not going to work with us, then we’ll take out as many plants as we need. One by one.”
Since then, the UAW expanded the strike to a Ford plant in Chicago and a GM plant in Lansing, Mich.
When asked for comment on the strike, Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson referred to an unsigned statement from the company that pointed to changes in the industry like electric vehicles.
“As we look ahead to that electrified future, we need to maintain our profitability while remaining competitive,” the statement reads. “We are committed to working with the UAW to help Stellantis reach a competitive collective bargaining agreement.”
Purcell sees the tiered-pay system as a way to pit workers against each other and as a threat to the union.
“It will create animosity amongst each other. But that’s when the union comes into play. And we still try to preach solidarity.”
Workers at the Tappan facility agree.
David Meyers likes his job. He says the workplace is clean, and safety has improved since he started in 1988. But he’s aware that the $17-an-hour starting wage is untenable for new hires.
“We would have new workers being asked to do the same work as the older workers, but for half pay,” said Meyers. “It does affect morale — when you’re getting half the wages, and somebody else is doing the same work.”
Tappan is not a cheap place to live. Realtor.com lists the median price for homes sold in town at $667,000.
The annual salary of someone working full time at the $17-an-hour starting rate for parts distribution workers is $35,360, though staff can make more with overtime.
One of the new Tappan employees is Melyora Taylor. She said she was laid off in January 2022 after working 12 years at a Stellantis Jeep factory in Belvidere, Ill. It wasn’t until August 2023 that she was assigned to the Tappan facility.
Since then, she’s been staying in a hotel about an hour away from the plant as she struggles to establish herself.
“Things are so much more expensive out here,” said Taylor. “I don’t have any friends out here. I don’t have any family out here. It’s hard when you move out here, and you’re basically by yourself.”
Taylor has turned to the union for support as she works to rebuild her life in New York. She’s confident her local will be there for her if she needs help during the strike.
“If something is needed, we all come together and they will have a meeting and they’ll help me out in any way they possibly can.” She says the union has already been helping her search for housing.
The UAW is pushing for a 36 percent increase in wages over four years, and has prioritized the return of cost of living adjustments (COLA).
COLA was a staple of UAW contracts until the union gave it up after GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The non-profit think tank said average wages adjusted for inflation for auto manufacturing workers have fallen 19.3 percent since 2008.
While UAW leadership and the Big Three negotiate, Tappan workers are holding the line in front of the Chrysler plant. Purcell stayed on the picket line overnight the first day of the strike, leaving only to shower, change his clothes and take quick naps in his car.
“Now’s the time to do it,” he said. “The vehicles’ prices are going up, the profits are going up, but we’re not getting the fair share of the pay for the work we’re putting into these vehicles.”
