Lear Corp. workers in Hammond will vote on whether to authorize a strike on Tuesday.
Lear Corp. workers in Hammond will vote on whether to authorize a strike, a step in the collective bargaining process in which workers could walk off the job if negotiations break down and the union believes the company is continuing to bargain in bad faith. The strike vote will be held from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday in the break room of the Lear factory in Hammond, according to United Auto Workers Local 2335. UAW Local 2335 members recently voted 314-18 to reject Southfield, Mich.-based Lear's contract proposal. The union represents approximately 1,000 workers at the Lear seat-making factory in Hammond, which supplies seats just-in-time to the Chicago Assembly Plant that are used in the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor Utility vehicles. Any strike would disrupt work for thousands of auto workers across the Calumet Region as the plant does not stockpile parts but installs them in vehicles on the assembly line as it gets them. Union members at Lear have voiced concerns about pay raises not keeping pace with inflation, about not sharing in significant company profits and not being rewarded for working at the factory as essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
