Owners of Belleville’s The Pumpkin Factory look to hire striking UAW workers

By Tiarra Braddock , Jordan Nagel

Click here for updates on this story

    BELLEVILLE, Michigan (WXYZ) — The owners of the Pumpkin Factory say the UAW workers they will be hiring will be working at their haunted house.

“I figured they’re on strike, they needed the extra cash and we needed monsters,” said Amanda Bielski.

Bielski and her family own the Pumpkin Factory in Belleville and she also works at Ford’s River Rouge Plant. Even though her plant hasn’t been called to walk out, Bielski says she understands how hard it is to make ends meet during a strike.

As a way to show her support, she decided to hire striking UAW workers.

“It could mean the difference between another car payment, money for dinner for their children,” Bielski said. “Something to keep them afloat until their strike pay kicks in and everything too.”

Bielski says there’s been at least 20 UAW workers showing interest in working at the haunted house. They’ll have to dress up as monsters and will be needed on the weekends.

“It’s not a whole lot, it’s only $10 an hour but it’s still better than nothing,” Bielski added.

So far, Bielski has only spoken with workers from Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. If they end up going back to work before the haunted house opens in October, Bielski wants to hire more UAW workers who are still on strike. She say the main goal is to help the workers who are fighting out on the picket line.

“I’m for it, we’re trying to get a better contract, a better deal,” Bielski said.

The haunted house will open to the public on Friday, October 13th.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.