TONAWANDA, N.Y. — As the UAW strike continues the issue of job security for some of our local auto plant workers surfaced last week with comments FROM the national union president. 2 On Your Side takes a closer look at the potential impact on the GM Power Train plant in Tonawanda.
Through the decades the GM Tonawanda Powertrain plant and its current 700 union members have been very successful turning out powerful ICE or internal combustion engines.
But the government and industry drive for strictly electric vehicles powered by batteries produced in traditionally lower wage and co-owned with foreign interests battery plants and the regular engine plants like Tonwanda were addressed Friday.
National United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain announced last Friday that GM agreed battery production facilities will eventually be folded in to contract negotiations. But he has a blunt view of corporate planning. "The plan was to draw down engine and transmission plants and permanently replace them with low wage battery jobs."
So on this transition talk we spoke with Art Wheaton who is the Labor Studies Director with School of Cornell Industrial & Labor Relations in Buffalo. He noted "So there's a lot of concern if you're at the Tonawanda engine plant for what could happen 10 or 15 years from now because there may not be a need for the internal combustion engines."
Perhaps there is reassurance in a GM corporate video from a ranking executive who toured the Lockport GM plant last year. He gave somewhat vague answers when asked specifically about the future of the Tonawanda plant back then. Gerald Johnson is the Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability. "As GM moves forward toward an all electric future we're focused on bringing all of our employees with us. We'll do this by rapidly scaling up our capacity to produce EVs while also continuing to make the best ICE trucks and SUVs in the industry. We have shared that the transition will look different for everyone."
And then we also spoke last week with Tonawanda Power Train Plant Manager Tara Wasik who said "We've done some studies verified by some third parties indicating that the numbers would be pretty comparable.
Reporter: Well that's good news to the workers - so in essence you feel like you could still maintain certain production levels if you are assigned to build electric propulsion?
Wasik responded "That's some details that I cant really speak to today."
Art Wheaton of Cornell says the Tonawanda plant has space to build EV batteries.
Of course there is some overall debate on how many workers may actually be involved in full EV production work with a lot less moving parts in an EV.
But again the actual pay scale for EV battery plant workers is an issue now for the bargaining table in this transition.
Local UAW leadership had no further comment because they are in negotiations.
Still no local auto plants have been affected with actual strike activity at this point. But 48 workers at the Lockport GM Components plant are on layoff status because of a ripple supply effect from a GM Assembly plant in the Midwest which is on strike.