By David Fleet
Editor
Groveland Township resident Nathan Gentile has worked for General Motors for 12 years. He was hired during the 2007 contract year at Orion Assembly, UAW Local 5960 after being a temporary employee for little over a year. He currently works at Flint Assembly UAW Local 598.

“Being a UAW member is more than part of my job, it’s part of who I am,” said Gentile on Wednesday. “I am the third generation of General Motors/UAW workers in my family. My wife, Jaclyn also has 12 years seniority at the Orion Assembly plant and comes from a large General Motors/ UAW family. What the strike means to my family and I, is continuing to fight for the middle class.”
Gentile is one of thousands of workers and suppliers laid off now for more than 10 days during a United Auto Worker’s strike against General Motors. As of press time on Thursday no tentative agreement had been reached.
“I realize now that I have children of my own, that if we don’t stand up for what is right now, it will affect our children and their futures,” he said. “It’s important that I teach my daughters about being in a union and what it stands for. I want them to understand everything that many people take for granted, (like good benefits, fair wages, the 40-hour work week and much more) which was made possible by UAW members standing together in Solidarity.”
According to news sources, at issue is GM’s decision last fall to idle four of its U.S. factories: Detroit-Hamtramck, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio, transmission plants in Warren and Baltimore. Also, at issue is G.M.’s use of temporary workers, about 7-10 percent or 4,100 of their U.S. hourly workers. They do the same work as permanent workers, but for less pay and less benefits.
“I believe we are here today because UAW members gave up many concessions to help save GM during their bankruptcy, that continued through the last decade to help them stay profitable,” he said. “Now that General Motors have been making billions of dollars, we are asking for our fair share. We would like to see fair wages for all employees, to keep our affordable quality health care, job security and to bring back more good paying jobs to the United States, and a defined path to permanent seniority for our temporary employees. Right now, we have around 5,000 temporary employees with some that have been working for General Motors up to six years. We believe it is time to stand up together and fight for one another and the diminishing middle class.”