Reporter: John Tramontana
Email Address: john.tramontana@wilx.com
"It took a number of days to go back and forth to get where we are today," said UAW Local 602 President Doug Rademacher.
Twenty-eight days to be exact. Four long weeks of small paychecks and strike duty. But now the picket signs have been retired. The strike chants? Silent.
UAW local 602 employees are officially off the picket lines after ratifying a new agreement with GM management at the Lansing Delta Township Plant.
"It was as though the burden of the world was lifted off my shoulders," said UAW lead negotiator Stephen Bramos.
He says, at the end of the day, it was a deal all could be happy with.
"It's a foundation that we can build upon for years to come."
The groundbreaking deal is the first of its kind at the Lansing Delta Plant, and Friday morning more than 2,000 Local 602 employees got their first look at it.
"I voted yes. It was worth being out," said relieved worker Manuel Rosales.
"I think basically, they did a good job with the negotiating," said employee Reggie Hattaway.
Workers say there's more job security with the deal.
"As management decided to do a lot of things that we weren't familiar with, there was no language. Now, we have language," Rosales added.
And they expect to work more closely with management.
"Instead of it being us against them, for the first time since we've been at delta, it will be everyone working together," Hattaway said.
Working together for the first time with a local contract.
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