By the time Vance was born in 1984, Middletown was on the precipice of going from a prosperous industrial town with a robust business district that had flourished since the steel mill opened to the beginning of a free fall.
TOLEDO, Ohio — At the heart of who the United Auto Workers union members are and what they want are three very American concepts: pride in their work, the ability to navigate an economy that is working against them, and a government strong-arming a prosperous and secure future away from them and their community.
UAW President Shawn Fain said in a press release as the autoworkers walked off the job, "We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message. It's time for a fair contract at Ford and the rest of the Big Three. If they can't understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it.
By the time Vance was a teenager, the massive 175,000-foot four-story building and the town were in decay. They were no longer where thousands were employed, and in response, the business district started to shutter, and families moved away. "I talked to a woman who moved from the Illinois facility that was closed about a year and a half ago. She's now working here, struggling to get by. I talked to a guy who's got three kids, which hits me pretty hard because I've got three young kids myself, worried about paying for baseball leagues for his kids," said Vance, adding, "If you're working 60, 70 hours a week, you shouldn't be worried about paying for baseball league for your kids.
Vance said most of the people he talked to on the picket line said they could not afford the very cars they were making, "I've heard from so many people out here who are struggling to get by, working 60-, 70-hour weeks, that is not OK in this country ... it's a failure of Washington," he said. "This is obviously an economically devastating thing. It's devastating for the workers. It's devastating for the broader community. And I think the message I can take back to Washington is, look, this thing can end. The auto industry is doing well. You just got to give the workers a fair shake."
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