member minute

Donna Birks

Donna Birks has been a UAW member since 1976 when she hired in at General Motors Corp. in Kansas City, Kan. She quickly became an active member of UAW Local 31, which represents workers at GM's Fairfax facility, who build the Chevrolet Malibu and will soon add the redesigned 2010 Buick LaCrosse. She's on her third term as Local 31 financial secretary, and is also vice president of the Greater Kansas City UAW Community Action Program (CAP) and president of the Tri-County Labor Council. She talked to Solidarity two days after GM filed for bankruptcy.

How are your members feeling right about now?

"We just didn't know what would happen. You think about places with plants that are new like ours and you think you are OK and the next thing you know, you are shut down. We are relieved, but it's bittersweet. We can put faces on people who are losing jobs."

What do you say to people who say, "Well, I have a business and nobody bails me out. Let GM go under!"

"What they don't see is the big picture. It's not that I don't feel sorry for their businesses; I want every business to have income and jobs. But the difference is they might affect just the neighborhood and GM affects the world."

Do you think the new GM will succeed?

"I don't know what the outcome will be, but I am so relieved that President Obama is there dealing with it because he's a friend to working people. We might not agree with everything he does but, bottom line, it won't be done to destroy labor."

Emily Everett