UAW on strike in Detroit, but not at the automakers

DETROIT — On the eve of a possible UAW strike against the Detroit 3 automakers, more than 1,000 UAW members employed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan walked off the job Wednesday morning.

The workers, represented by the UAW in Detroit and at several locals across the state, authorized the strike in late August with 95 percent of the bargaining units voting in favor. Negotiations kicked off in July with workers demanding significant wage increases, increased health care benefits and the return of certain jobs that were outsourced.

Pickets were seen in downtown Detroit on Wednesday morning as the Detroit auto show opened its doors. The UAW's contracts with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis are due to expire at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

Those negotiations are ongoing for the roughly 150,000 autoworkers represented by the union at the Detroit 3 automakers.

"Our main thing we're having some concerns with is outsourcing," Janice Hilliard, president of UAW Local 2145 in Grand Rapids, told Crain's. "Currently a lot of our work gets outsourced to vendors, including out of the country, such as El Salvador and the Philippines. This is work in our claims area or customer service area, so we wanted to get some type of (contract) language to pretty much stop that, so to speak."

Hilliard said the outsourcing has led to a dramatic reduction in UAW employees at BCBSM, which represents about 1,100 today, down from more than 5,000 years ago.

The UAW workers employed at BCBSM across the state, including Detroit and Grand Rapids, also noted opposition to the compensation of BCBSM CEO Dan Loepp, which totaled $15.7 million in 2022.

The UAW represents BCBSM workers in Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Traverse City. Workers at all of those locations are striking. Those workers perform customer service, membership and billing, claims and enrollment, maintenance and other administrative functions for the state's largest health insurer.

BCBSM acknowledged the strike Wednesday morning and said in a statement on its website that contingency plans are in place to not disrupt customer service during the strike.

"Blue Cross has put contingencies in place to enable our company to continue to provide services to providers, group customers and our millions of members around the nation," the company said in the statement. "Some of those services – particularly those provided over the phone – will require longer wait times. We encourage our members and customers to use our online and app-based services during this period, and we regret the inconvenience caused by this situation – which we desire to resolve quickly, consistent with the spirit of collective bargaining, with our partners at the UAW."

The workers are picketing at BCBSM's headquarters on E. Lafayette Street and the Renaissance Center in Detroit as well at its offices in Grand Rapids.

— Crain's Grand Rapids Managing Editor Andy Balaskovitz contributed to this article.