Striking UAW members hit by car outside Michigan GM plant
Incident happened outside GM’s Flint Processing Center in Swartz Creek
Former Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli discusses the ongoing negotiation talks between the UAW and the Big Three automakers on 'The Claman Countdown.'
Two striking United Auto Workers (UAW) members have been hospitalized in Michigan after they and three of their colleagues were hit by a car while demonstrating outside of a GM plant near Flint, reports say.
Metro Police Authority of Genesee County Chief Matt Bade said the five workers – who suffered minor injuries – were struck around 4 p.m. while blocking one of the exits to GM’s Flint Processing Center in Swartz Creek, according to MLive.com.
The driver, an employee at the plant, drove through picketing UAW members before leaving the scene, Bade separately told the Associated Press.
UAW Region 1-D President Steve Dawes told MLive.com that the vehicle involved is possibly a Chevrolet HHR or Chrysler PT Cruiser, dark in color, and that two of the workers had to be taken to local medical facilities for additional treatment.
BIDEN TELLS STRIKING AUTOWORKERS TO ‘STICK WITH IT,’ THAT THEY ‘DESERVE’ A ‘SIGNIFICANT RAISE’
United Auto Workers picket outside the Flint Processing Center where multiple people were hit on Tuesday, Sept. 26, in Swartz Creek, Michigan. (Roberto Acosta/The Flint Journal via AP / AP Images)
"It was uncalled for," Dawes said to the website. "These people are out here, you know these are my membership, and they’re out here doing a peaceful, legal demonstration.
"This is very serious and we’re going to be pushing this issue," he added.
GM spokesperson Jack Crawley was quoted by the AP as saying following the incident that the company "is committed to the health and safety of all employees."
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"Plant leadership is working closely with local authorities to investigate and understand what happened," his statement reportedly added.
GM says its Flint Processing Center opened in 1958 and employs 478 people.
UNION REACHES AGREEMENT WITH FORD IN CANADA, REPRESENTED WORKERS TO RECEIVE WAGE, PENSION GAINS
US President Joe Biden addresses a UAW picket line at a General Motors Service Parts Operations plant in Belleville, Michigan, on Tuesday. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
About an hour south of where the incident happened Monday, President Biden joined striking UAW members in Belleville.
Biden's appearance at an organized union strike marked the first visit by a U.S. president alongside striking workers in modern history.
Donning a union baseball hat, the President said they deserve a "significant raise and other benefits."
"Stick with it because you deserve a significant raise and other benefits to take back what you lost," Biden said.
Referring to the 2009 government bailout of U.S. automakers that included wage cuts for autoworkers, Biden said workers "should be doing incredibly well, too."
United Auto Workers members and supporters rally at the Stellantis North America headquarters on Sept. 20, in Auburn Hills, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"The fact of the matter is that you guys, the UAW, you saved the automobile industry back in 2008 ... you made a lot of sacrifices," Biden said in a bullhorn. "You gave up a lot. And the companies were in trouble. But now they’re doing incredibly well and guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too."
FOX Business' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.