Senator Sherrod Brown, Congresswoman Shontel Brown Throw Support Behind Striking IAM Members at Valley Ford Truck
Two dozen workers at Valley Ford Truck, in Valley View Ohio, are on strike saying the company didn’t give them a fair contract after eight months of negotiations.
Service department employees at Valley Ford Truck’s commercial vehicle center began their strike Monday after rejecting the company’s “last, best and final offer.”
Mark Bowser, the striking workers’ union representative and one of the mechanics, said the union and the company are far apart on two main issues; Retirement plans and changes to mechanic pay.
Bowser said negotiations began in April and the contract expired in June. He has been a union mechanic for 25 years and has worked for Valley Truck Centers for nine years. But this is the first time he has said he has to stand on the picket line.
“We just want a contract that is fair to the workers,” Bowser said. “We want to keep our retirement savings and go back to work.”
Congresswoman Shontel Brown and Senator Sherrod Brown have both been active in helping the IAM members on strike.
“As IAM Local 1363 members at Valley Ford spend the holidays fighting for every working family, the solidarity from Senator Sherrod Brown and Congresswoman Shontel Brown means the world,” said IAM Local 1363 Directing Business Representative Timothy Verlinden. “We continue to be ready and willing to negotiate a fair contract with management that preserves our membership’s hard-fought retirement security.”