SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's technically still business as usual at the GM Plant in Spring Hill, even if it doesn't feel that way.
"There’s a lot of discussions that’s happening up north in the negotiations and really that’s where that focus needs to be," said Anton Busuttil, Plant Manager of the Spring Hill plant.
The United Autoworkers have been striking at select Big Three Automaker plants for the last three weeks. As a part of their strategy, they've kept everyone in the dark about which plants are next — including their own workers.
"It’s tense every Friday, right? Because we just don’t know what’s going to happen," said John Rutherford, the UAW Local 1853 President, during an interview with NewsChannel 5 last week.
Rutherford says even though Spring Hill hasn't been invited to the picket line yet, they stand willing and able.
"We’re not in the business to bankrupt the company. If they’re not making money, we’re not making money right? So times are very well, very good after bankruptcy. It looks like a much brighter future so we’re trying to get back some of what we lost," he said.
Of course, Busuttil argues that GM has already offered up a good deal to UAW.
"We’ve put out our most generous offer we’ve ever put out for the UAW, and what’s on the table right now are historic wage gains, job security focus, maintaining the great healthcare that we provide for our employees," said Busuttil. "Quite honestly, if we don’t reinvest in the company, we won’t have the future that we would all desire."
Whether or not Spring hill is selected to strike next, the plant could still eventually send workers home. As UAW grows the strike, if Spring Hill's part manufacturers are taken offline, GM may be forced to furlough workers in the mid-state.
"There’s some work stoppages — that would be inevitable that we would have to stop production," said Busuttil.
Perhaps the one thing both respective leaders can agree on is that they're longing for the day they can truly get back to business as usual.
"If we were called upon to have a strike, we would have to pause operations," said Busuttil.
"We don’t want to strike, but if we have to, we have to," said Rutherford.
