GM strike leaves thousands of workers outside without a job

Chicago – United Auto Workers strike against GM may enter its third week unless there is a breakthrough this weekend. Nearly 50,000 workers have been on the fence line demanding better wages, job security and medical coverage .

But thousands of others are just unemployed and increasingly desperate. Christ's Hunnicut is just one of the workers who lost their job because of General Motors' strike – a dispute that is not of their opinion. She is not on strike, but she is temporarily laid off because she works for a GM parts supplier and right now with GM idle, there is no need to deliver these parts.

Hunnicut and many of her employees at Avancez near Fort Wayne, Indiana, have applied for unemployment benefits, about $ 265 weeks. That's far less than her base salary of $ 600. She told CBS News that he has no savings to fall back on.

Andrea Davis worked at the same sharing facility as Hunnicut. She has five children.

"How should I continue to provide for my children? I do not want them to be homeless or without food," Davis said.

When workers tighten their belts, the ripple effect hits local merchants who lose business, the city loses tax dollars and families face tough questions.

"What are we doing? There is no money, no help and no answers," Davis said.

As the strike continues, people trapped in the middle begin to look for new jobs. Not because they want to, but because they have to.

© Bill Pugliano / Getty Images
United Auto Workers begins the largest national strike since 1982