Why we could strike at BMW’s regional distribution center

Members of the United Auto Workers union strike at the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan, on September 29, 2023. Today, the UAW expanded its strike against General Motors and Ford, claiming there has been no significant progress toward a fair collective bargaining agreement. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

By Zachary Haas, Reyna Lopez and Megan Dowling, UAW members

As employees at the BMW Regional Distribution Center in Palmer Township, we pack and ship parts and all BMW motorcycles to the nationwide BMW dealer network.

In the sprawling factory, our paths rarely cross at work. We work different shifts, speak different languages ​​and come from different backgrounds. But when it comes to winning a record deal, we are united with our colleagues and ready to fight back. We recently voted by 99% that unless there is a deal that eliminates pay scales, increases wages and improves safety, we will go on strike if necessary.

The story at our plant is well known: BMW is raking in record profits and showering executives and shareholders with outrageous salaries and payouts. In BMW’s case, $7.2 billion was paid out to shareholders last year. Yet the workers here in the Lehigh Valley who actually manufacture and distribute the products continue to struggle to make ends meet.

Two of the biggest issues we want to address in a new agreement are low wages and pay disparities between workers. Long-serving employees at our plant have not received a pay rise for 10 years. That represents more than a decade of declining purchasing power. In addition, some employees earned almost 47% less than their colleagues for the same work. For us, equal pay for equal work is a must in any new agreement.

Another priority is reducing health care costs. For family coverage alone, we pay nearly $400 a month, not including premiums and copays. That’s an expense that workers making less than $22 an hour simply can’t afford. And yet, if the company gets its way in these negotiations, we’ll pay even more. Reducing health care costs is a necessity, not a maybe.

We also fight for a safe working environment. Workplace accidents due to understaffing and mandatory overtime are a big problem here. Many workers have to forego compensation because of these problems, and management has always refused to listen to our concerns. This is a slap in the face considering we have sacrificed so much to make this company profitable.

When most of the country shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, we were deemed essential. We continued to go to work every day, even though BMW didn’t compensate us for risking our lives so they could keep operations running. Instead, the company “rewarded” us by cutting our bonuses and treating us like we should be lucky to even walk through the doors.

Of course, the company will say it can’t afford to offer us more than the bare minimum. But BMW’s profits have skyrocketed. Since 2021, the company has raked in a whopping $50 billion. This is a company that can more than afford to sign a great deal. It’s just trying to hoard the wealth we help create.

Like workers across the country who have stood up against multi-billion dollar corporations, we are raising our voices to demand our fair share. We are part of a growing movement of workers willing to refuse their jobs if that’s what it takes to win a better life.

Last fall, autoworkers at the Big Three took on the automakers, striking for six weeks and winning historic collective bargaining agreements at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. And just last month, more than 7,000 workers at Daimler Truck North America won a great collective bargaining agreement by building a credible strike threat that forced the company to back down at the eleventh hour of negotiations.

We take inspiration from them and are ready to step up when needed. Although our team of around 120 people operates on a much smaller scale, the motorcycles and parts we supply to BMW dealers are vital to the running of the business.

If BMW does not offer us a new agreement that recognizes our hard work and sacrifices by the end of the contract on June 30, we will do whatever is necessary to earn the dignity and respect we deserve.

We are ready to stand up and fight for a record contract at BMW – for our colleagues, our families and our communities.

Zachary Hass of West Easton is the senior administrator and bargaining chair for UAW members at the Palmer Township distribution center, Reyna Lopez of Allentown is part of the bargaining team and Megan Dowling of Bushkill Township is the union representative at the distribution center.