Striking UAW worker's busy step counter gives look at life inside Langhorne plant
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- While on strike from their jobs at the General Motors facility in Langhorne, some workers accustomed to spending whole days on their feet have seen their lifestyle change since they walked out of the facility a couple weeks ago.
As acting president of UAW Local 2177, Charmian Hughes-Leslie has been spending her days at the picket lines with her fellow plant employees -- and the occasional U.S. Senator -- making sure there's ice in the cooler and wood for the firepit.
However, the demands of leading a union are far different than those on the factory floor, where Hughes-Leslie's fitness app shows it's not uncommon for her to walk nearly 10 miles per day.
"It's all on concrete," says Hughes-Leslie, alluding to the need for comfortable shoes.
Hughes-Leslie spends those miles pushing a 20-pound cart carrying multiple parcels of auto parts ranging anywhere from 15 to 40 pounds.
"That is part of the criteria of the job," she said. "You're going to be walking, and you're going to be doing physical labor."
According to data on her phone's fitness app, Hughes-Leslie averaged 5.5 miles of walking per day in June. She points out that weekend days bring the overall average down, and the data show that she is commonly in the seven- to nine-mile range on workdays. On June 17, her high mileage day, she hit 9.7 miles.
The numbers have dropped since she's been on the picket line, but Hughes-Leslie says she's no less busy.
"You don't even realize [how much] you're doing here," she said. "You're picking up ice, moving things of soda and water, and you're walking back and forth with the picket signs. We're not just sitting there, right?"
One entrance to the plant where workers are set up is along a busy road. With workers at both picketing sites 24 hours a day, this brings its own challenges in the dark.
"It's dangerous over there. You especially have to be careful at night. You see how crazy it is with people coming in and out, in and out. And then you have drunk drivers that come through up until 2 or 2:30 [in the morning]."
More than 80 UAW members walked off the job in Langhorne on Sept. 20. They are part of the approximately 25,000 union members at GM, Ford, and Chrysler parent Stellantis currently on strike.
