Valley Ford Truck employees, who have been on strike since mid-December, want to get an agreement when they return to the bargaining table today, according to the union.
“We’re meeting with the mediator Friday [today] in hopes of getting something done,” said Robert Towslee, business representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 1363. “We’re hoping and we’re optimistic, but I just don’t know.”
Wages isn’t the big issue here.
Robert Towslee, business representative for IAM Local 1363, on how the union is focused on the retirement plan over pay.
This will be the second time the parties are returning to the bargaining table since union members went on strike Dec. 18. Towslee said the union asked the company to resume bargaining. The union views the employer’s acceptance as an encouraging sign.
Most of the 24 union members on strike are either automotive, light truck or heavy truck technicians. He said they went on strike after Valley Ford Truck representatives said they had made their “last, best and final offer.”
Towslee said union members couldn’t accept such an offer. He said at issue are workers’ 401(k) retirement plans and being guaranteed a certain number of weekly work hours. Workers have held a picket line outside of the dealership on Canal Road in Valley View most weekdays since the strike began.
Signal Cleveland has contacted Valley Ford Truck and will update this article with their response once we receive it.
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.
The company told the union that it wanted to redirect money into higher salaries in order to attract and retain employees, Towslee said.
“They say if they do this, they can make their wages look more enticing,” he said. “They’re having trouble hiring people. Well, everybody that’s looking to hire technicians – automotive technicians, light truck technicians, heavy truck technicians, – is having a problem. It’s a field that a lot of people aren’t going into, the age of the average technician is much older, and we’ve got a lot of guys retiring.”
Towslee said Valley Ford Truck’s wages are currently competitive with industry standards.
“Wages isn’t the big issue here,” he said of why workers are striking.
The company wants to decrease the guaranteed weekly hours technicians are paid, which are linked to the actual repairs they perform on vehicles, Towslee said. Technicians are currently guaranteed 39 hours a week. He said the company wants to drop this to as few as 35 hours.