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Avancez sits across the street from GM’s Fort Wayne Assembly plant. The manufacturing plant ceased operations once the strike began.
Samantha Horton/IPB NewsThe United Auto Workers strike against General Motors is forcing some Indiana companies that supply parts to the car maker to shut down.
The union picketing entered its third day Wednesday after the UAW called for the strike against GM at midnight Sunday night. Thousands of workers in Indiana have since walked off the job.
READ MORE: UAW Workers Strike At Largest GM Facility In Indiana
GM Fort Wayne Assembly union workers say they are prepared to strike for as long as it takes to get a new contract. Meanwhile, employees at companies relying on the GM plant face their own challenges.
Several supplier companies sit across the road from the car manufacturing plant including Avancez. Shortly after the strike began, the company stopped operations.
Theresa Bradin is a manufacturing associate at Avancez. As the UAW union chair for workers at the Avancez’s Fort Wayne area location, she says that without pay some of her coworkers have already found other jobs.
“I don’t know that everybody will come back if this goes on too long ‘cause we all can’t go without paychecks that long,” says Bradin. “We just can’t.”
She plans to file for unemployment, and if the strike continues beyond next week, she’ll be looking for another job.
“I don’t know how long we can stand to go without work there,” says Bradin. “I’m so afraid that it might pull the rug out from right under us.”
Contact Samantha at shorton@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @SamHorton5.
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