Autoworkers say:
Thanks for your support
Photo: Rebbecca Cook
[ 1 ] Autoworkers On The Mound at Detroit’s Home Opener: A UAW Local 22 member for 35 years at GM’s Hamtramck (Mich.) Assembly Plant, Loretta Abiodun, center, had never been on a baseball field. Fans roared for David Edgar, right, a UAW Local 869 member with 34 years at Chrysler’s Warren (Mich.) Stamping Plant. And Pete Reyes, left, a salaried worker for 22 years at Ford’s product development center in Dearborn, Mich., was overwhelmed.
You knew right off the bat it wasn’t going to be just any ordinary home opener. Comerica Park’s centerfield fountain (5) featured three familiar logos and a message: “The Detroit Tigers support our automakers.”
Motown’s own Kid Rock delivered three baseballs to the mound, bowing on bended knee to his recipients: autoworkers from GM, Ford and Chrysler who threw out the ceremonial first pitches.
Opening Day all-stars Loretta Abiodun, David Edgar and Pete Reyes (1) received a standing ovation April 10 when the team put the spotlight back on the Motor City and the resiliency of all U.S. autoworkers.
Support has poured in from all arenas. “Tonight Show” host and comedian Jay Leno (2) brought a free concert and some much-needed laughs to Michigan’s jobless workers in April.
In March a 240-hour (yes, 240) Assembly Line Concert (3,4) paid tribute to the American auto industry at AJ’s Music Café in Ferndale, Mich., near Detroit. The 10-day, continuous concert broke the Guinness Book’s world record for the longest concert by multiple artists.
Classic rock station WCSX (94.7 FM; www.wcsx.com) took Detroit native son Bob Seger’s hit “Feel Like a Number” to heart, finding a way to make government leaders in Washington understand the auto crisis is more about people than numbers. Their “Faces of Auto Workers” banner (6) features photographs of folks from all walks of life who have felt the impact. The station will present the finished banner to President Barack Obama the next time he visits Detroit - or deliver it to the White House themselves.
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