New Ventra vote starts Thursday

MARGARETTA TWP. — United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1216 reached another tentative agreement with Flex-N-Gate Ventra Sandusky. Local 1216 represents the more than 2,200 employees at the Tiffin Avenue factory who have been working under a day-to-day extension of its previous contract since July. Union leaders have been at the negotiation table with Ventra since its members voted down the first tentative contract in September. Many of the workers at the factory — which has a starting hourly wage of $18 to $19 — took issue with the size of the raises, which they didn't think met the increased cost of living. "My family's insurance went up by $11," a factory worker said. "We want a wage that is at least going to cover the increase in our insurance." The new contract offers $27.5 million in new money and concessions from the company, whereas the denied agreement provided $21 million. It includes a 30 cent wage increase backdated to September, 20 cent increases in September 2021 and March 2022 and then a 25 cent increase every six months until the end of the contract. But the factory employee who the Register spoke to said the dispute was about more than just wages. "It's never been about the money. It's about the 12-hour shifts, seven days a week," the employee said. "When am I going to spend time with my family?" The union will have voting at the Tiffin Avenue factory, and its other location on Hirt Drive in Bellevue, on Thursday and Friday. The Ford Motor Co. broke ground at the facility in 1955, according to the union's website. The plant has grown in size from 720,000 square feet to 1.2 million square feet. It was "spun off" beginning in about 2000, rechristened Visteon, and then as ACH, according to the website. Flex-N-Gate purchased it and made it a part of its Ventra Plastics Division. The factory manufactures headlamps and rear light fixtures for the Ford Motor Co.