The scuffling and sometimes violence that have marked past work stoppages aren't apparent during Day Two of the UAW's strike against General Motors Corp.
Shortly after 3 p.m., sheriff's deputies arrived at GM's Orion Assembly plant in Orion Township as a precaution while white-collar workers left the plant. Two deputies stood between pickets and cars leaving the factory grounds.
Striker Al Dontje said "The sheriffs were friendly to us. They even shook our hand. There was no problems here."
Peace, even boredom reigned in Romulus, too.
Despite a darkened sky and distant rolls of thunder, about 50 strikers at the GM Powertrain facility there continued their marching along Ecorse Road in the late afternoon.
The facility is located between industrial buildings and alongside a railroad crossing, without any eateries nearby. But demonstrators made do with folding tables displaying a decent spread: pizza boxes, potato chips, economy-sized packs of coffee and cartons of drinking water. Blue porta-potties were set up nearby.
Several on the picket line walked in silence, some smoking cigarettes, some gazing at passing traffic.
Joe Bell, passed the time on the picket line by listening to radio tunes, mouthing lyrics to John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change."
"It eases the boredom walking up and down here looking at your feet," said Bell, 56, an inspector who has worked for GM since 1969.
At the GM Powertrain plant in Livonia, on Middle Belt and Plymouth Roads, about two dozen strikers this afternoon waved signs and took turns sitting in the shade for respite from the bright sunshine.
Dwayne Phillips, 43, of Redford Township, said he had been for two four-hour shifts today and was going back out to rest up for Wednesday. He said many of the strikers were picketing for more than the four hours per week they are required to clock in order to collect their strike pay.
"I think the extra effort is worth it, especially if it gets us what we need," he said. "I'd rather be out here showing my support for the union than sitting at home."
Like other workers, Phillips is less optimistic about a short strike duration.
"It seems like everyone is getting ready for a really long strike," he said. "I hope it doesn't happen. None of us want that."
Earlier today, strikers at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly facility pumped green and white "UAW On Strike" signs outside the plant's five gates said they were poised to stick it out as long as union leadership needed to secure a favorable contract.
One of the striking workers, Darrell Smith, said he wants a contract that ensures job security for him and products to build for the plant.
"I've worked here for 10 years and we're always worrying that one day, GM's just going to move our cars to Mexico and leave us with nothing to do," said Smith, 33, of Romulus. "We've given up enough already. It's time the company starts giving us a better idea of what our future's going to be like."
Smith said he worries that a number of ideas reported to be on the table between the union and GM like a two-tier wage system and changes in health care benefits would further affect a work environment he described as "intense and getting worse."
That's a sentiment reflected by other strikers at the plant, including Yolanda Waters, a 56-year-old former employee who left GM last year after 32 years on the assembly, but joined the picket lines in solidarity with her UAW friends.
"People outside the union think we're overpaid and whining," Waters said. "I'd like them to spend an hour inside that plant. Everybody does the job of three or four people. The entire time I worked there, it was always more work, less people, more work, less people. They're reaching a breaking point. I already did."
As her hair whooshed back from the Mound Road traffic, Dolores Gurra-Sox gave the peace sign to a passing trucker who responded back with the mighty sound of his horn.
Gurra-Sox, a transmission line worker at GM's Warren Powertrain plant, said the union will hold strong.
"We've worked hard for all we've accomplished and we don't want to give it back," she said.
Her husband, Gary Sox, who retired after 37 years at the same factory, joined his wife and about a dozen other pickets at the plant's north gate. He waved a sign that said "UAW on Strike" and said "This isn't just a UAW issue; it's a national issue. Americans need health care and job security nationwide."
About 50 to 60 pickets manned the various plant gages along Mound Road in mid-morning today. Some cheered and waved to motorists; others quietly sipped coffee in the balmy morning air.
Lucinda Goode, a valve body worker at the Warren plant, described her mood as apprehensive, as she held a picket sign outside the factory.
"I hate that we had to go out -- but we do what we need to do to protect our healthcare," she said. "We are working for the retirees because they need healthcare."
Roger Frazier, a machine operator, said he was surprised when the walk out occurred. He held a picket sign and wore headphones around his neck, in anticipation of an eight-hour day on the strike line.
"It seemed like things were on track and I assumed it was going to get done," he said of the contract talks. "Now I'll do what I can to support the union and let us be heard."
Frazier said he hoped this strike would only last two or three days -- the same as a 1998 walkout at the plant, the only other strike he's been a part of in 30 years at GM.
