Volvo workers on strike

Nearly 2,500 members of UAW Local 2069 have been on strike since Jan. 31 against Volvo in Dublin, Va. According to Local 2069 President Lester Hancock, the company has made “unreasonable proposals that would erode the wages and benefits that we’ve fought so many years to achieve and protect” and tried “to dismantle many of the most basic health and safety protections found in our current agreement.”

The plant is Volvo’s only heavy-duty truck plant in the U.S. and also makes trucks for Mack. Demand for trucks at the moment remains sluggish, which could limit the strike’s immediate impact. Volvo will feel the pinch, however, if it gets a special order or if demand picks up.

The vote to authorize the strike was 95 percent in favor, and the union reports solid member support. Strikers are picketing round the clock. UAW Local 3250 in Cleveland, N.C., has been asking its ranks to donate cases of bottled water, six-, 12-, or 24-packs of sodas, coffee, condiments, hot chocolate/cocoa, hot dog buns and “weenies.”

Both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the days leading up to the Democratic presidential primary, voiced their solidarity, suggesting their awareness of strong community backing.

The workers will “stay out here as long as it takes,” according to striker Carol Burton. “This is our future.”