TOLEDO, Ohio — Outside of the Toledo Firefighters Local 92 headquarters in downtown Toledo is a large sign that reads "SOLIDARITY WITH UAW."
Forty-one days into the United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three, UAW Local 12 is continuing to ask for donations, and Local 92 responded with a big one.
"We believe strongly that we are stronger together, so we are always going to support our union brothers and sisters," said Local 92 president Matt Tabb. "I sympathize with them and understand where they're coming from. We're fully in support of their activities right now."
The executive board of Local 92 wanted to support their union brothers and sisters in the UAW and discussed in a recent meeting donating $1,000. Local 92 members pushed for a bigger donation.
"People that were at the union meeting, our own members said 'well, maybe $1,000 isn't enough,'" Tabb said. "There was a motion to increase the $1,000 to $3,000. We were getting ready to vote on that motion and then somebody else said, 'well, maybe $3,000 isn't enough. Why don't we raise it to $5,000?'"
And they did.
Local 92 isn't the only local union that has stepped up to lend a hand, either. The local chapter of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., said many other unions have not only donated, but have gone to the picket line to check in on strikers.
"One day longer, one day stronger," Erika White, a local union leader with the AFL-CIO, said. "We have to show up on the first day the same as we do on the 10th day as we do on the 100th day, making sure we continue to step up and rev up those workers that are out on the picket line."
As for Local 92, its message is simple.
"Hang in there," Tabb said. "The end is coming, and I'm sure you'll prevail and Local 92 is here for you."