Unionized Valley Ford Truck employees will mark the 11th week of their strike Tuesday with a “Day of Action,” when other unions will show their support by joining strikers on the picket line.
“We’re hoping to put on a show of support in their front yard to upset them a bit and bring light to our situation,” said Robert Towslee, business representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 1363.
He said “union members and allies from across Greater Cleveland” are expected to join the striking workers on the picket line at the Valley Ford Truck dealership on Canal Road in Valley View. Out-of-town IAM union officials are also expected to attend.
Valley Ford Truck…should be negotiating with their longtime employees
Leonard DiCosimo, head of North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor
Most of the roughly 23 union members still on strike are either automotive, light truck or heavy truck technicians. They are striking over 401(k) retirement plans and being guaranteed a certain number of weekly work hours. Towslee said the dealership began hiring replacement workers earlier this month to do the jobs of striking employees.
Signal Cleveland contacted Valley Ford Truck for comment.
“We have no comment,” the company responded in an email.
Leonard DiCosimo, who heads the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, expressed strong concern about the company hiring replacement workers.
“Valley Ford Truck is engaging in union-busting tactics at the negotiation table by hiring replacement workers when they should be negotiating with their longtime employees,” he wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland.
Towslee said the union and the company are scheduled to return to the bargaining table next week.
In 2019, workers were switched from a union pension to a union 401(k) retirement plan, Towslee said. He said that Valley Ford Truck wants to get rid of the union 401(k). The $3.30 an hour per employee the company was required to contribute under the union 401(k) would be redirected into employee wages.
The company’s 401(k) would now be employees’ only retirement plan option. Under this plan, the company would contribute a maximum of $3,600 annually, Towslee said. Under the union 401(k), the maximum is $6,864 annually.