Labor negotiations resume

MARGARETTA TWP. — United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1216 and Flex-N-Gate Ventra Sandusky return to the bargaining table Monday. Local 1216, which represents about 2,200 employees, has been in negotiations with the Tiffin Avenue factory since their collective bargaining agreement ended in July. But the union's members voted down a proposed contract at the end of the last month after workers took issue with how the company administers wages and work shifts. In a letter to its membership, Local 1216 president Brett Whyde said he spoke to UAW Region 2B director Wayne Blanchard. Region 2B encompasses all of Ohio and Indiana and offers support to local unions during negotiations. "I can assure the entire membership director Blanchard supports UAW Local 1216 as he, like your staff, works for you," Whyde wrote in the letter. Blanchard will join Local 1216's bargaining committee when they return to negotiations with the company on Monday. "We are preparing proposals based on the membership's desires and demands," Whyde wrote. "These desires have been gathered throughout our rollout process as well as our communications with sisters and brothers within the plant." As negotiations continue, workers at the factory, which makes headlamps for the Ford Motor Co., will work under a day-to-day extension of the previous contract agreed to in 2016. Whyde also addressed members' questions about a possible strike if talks fall through on a new contract. He said the union has filled out the appropriate documents listing their grievances to obtain support from the regional director and presidents board if a strike became necessary. Whyde ended his letter by reminding the membership that they're in this together. "We are all a UAW family, and I am proud to go to battle with, and for, each and every one of my sisters and brothers," Whyde wrote. The Register couldn't reach a spokesperson for the union.