NORTHWOOD, Ohio — While Toledo Jeep Assembly Complex workers are in their fifth on the picket line, some employees of Jeep suppliers have been laid off due to the United Auto Workers strike.
Kim Gott was laid off from the Adient Interior plant in Northwood at the start of the UAW strike in mid-September and has since been making cuts wherever she can.
"I've only been (paying on) my car and my house, and then a lot of baloney and cheap food," Gott, who used to be a temporary worker at the Toledo Jeep plant, said.
UAW members on the picket line receive $500 a week in strike pay. But Adient employees who were laid off aren't on strike and aren't eligible for strike pay.
Gott has had to make cuts beyond bills and food. She co-parents and has her 16-year-old son stay at her home less often due to the cost-cutting she has had to do.
"I don't have the money to be making meals every day," she said.
Gott has been working to get unemployment benefits since she was laid off. She received a letter saying she was approved on Monday, but on Tuesday, she found out she was denied.
So, all day Tuesday, she was trying to get in touch with someone who could help but had no success.
"If unemployment was coming through, I would at least keep afloat with my main bills, but unemployment hasn't been coming through at all," Gott said.
Holly Davis, Gott's friend, used to work at the Toledo Jeep plant as a temporary employee, too.
Since she and Gott weren't getting full-time status after two years us working there, they both left Jeep and started at Adient together.
And while Davis experienced the same troubles as Gott, she ended up receiving unemployment benefits. But she said it hasn't been enough to get by.
"We're losing out $500-600 plus a week, so I'm lucky if I pay one bill and then have enough to feed my family," Davis said.
She plans to go to a local food pantry to help ease the struggle.
"You can't be a proud person or you'll never have food for your family," Davis said.
Both Gott and Davis have thought about looking for other jobs, but if they do, they don't plan to stay for long since they want to go back to Adient after the strike.
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