General Motors Workers In Martinsburg Strike For Nearly A Week

For nearly a week, 90 workers from the General Motors Martinsburg Distribution Center have been on the picket line demanding better pay and benefits, as well as an updated promotional system for new employees.

The Martinsburg General Motors Distribution Center employs a little more than 100 people. Ninety of those workers have been on the picket line since Sunday — joining other UAW members across the country. The Martinsburg facility is the only GM distribution center in West Virginia.

Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting

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West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Vanessa Banks is the president of the Local 1590 chapter of the UAW.

She said every four years GM negotiates a new contract to decide what pay, healthcare and other benefits will look like for its workers.

“We don’t know all of the details until they come up with a tentative agreement, and then we can go vote on it,” she said.

The latest GM-UAW contract ended last weekend on Sept. 14, 2019. Negotiations for an updated agreement have been ongoing since July.

Banks said she and her fellow union members plan to be on the picket line until an agreement is made.