UAW Local 1216 OKs Ventra contract

SANDUSKY — United Auto Workers Local 1216 members approved a new four-year contract with the Flex-N-Gate Ventra Division plant that gives them regular pay hikes and protects their health insurance.About 74 percent of the union members voted Wednesday to approve the new pact, which covers July 1 this year to June 30, 2020, said Gary Marvicsin, president and building chairman of the local."Everyone is getting a pay increase. I think it was a win-win for us," Marvicsin said.In every collective bargaining situation, "you always want to move forward a little bit, a little bit higher. We did," he said.About 1,800 people belong to the union.Union members, paid according to several different pay grades, will get a 25 cent raise, retroactive to July 1, and another 25 cent raise when the new year begins. They then get a series of 20-cent raises, every six months.The contract also calls for the company to pay 85 percent of the cost of health insurance.That's what the company pays now, Marvicsin said."It was maintained," he said.The company has the right to change the insurance carrier so long as the new company is recognized and reputable, and delivers equivalent benefits and convenience.It took four months of talks to reach the new agreement on Sept. 9, Marvicsin said."It was not easy," he said. "It was business."The plant makes headlamps for the Ford and for Nissan. The Nissan work is new, won only over the last year, Marvicsin explained."We are the largest part supplier represented by the UAW in North America," Marvicsin said.In addition, Ventra is the only U.S.-owned lighting manufacturer in the world, he said.Recent news hasn't been good for another UAW local. Local 913 is bracing for the planned closing of the KBI plant.Marvicsin said his members are optimistic about the future of the Ventra plant."We work hard every day working for the future," he said.The Register telephoned Flex-N-Gate's Urbana, Ill., headquarters and the local plant, attempting to obtain comment from the company on the new contract, but was not successful.The Ventra plant originally was a Ford plant that opened in 1956. Spun off about 15 years ago as Visteon and then as ACH, the plant was purchased in 2012 by Flex-N-Gate and became part of the company's Ventra Plastics Division, according to a history posted at the local's website.Gary Marvicsin, president of United Auto Workers Local 1216. He's been the president for 2 1/2 years and is a local resident. United Auto Workers Local 1216 members approved a new four-year contract with the Flex-N-Gate Ventra Division plant that gives them regular pay hikes and protects their health insurance.United Auto Workers Local 1216 members approved a new four-year contract with the Flex-N-Gate Ventra Division plant that gives them regular pay hikes and protects their health insurance.