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Volume 10, Issue 40
UAW holds off additional strikes EV workers added to national contract, negotiations ongoing
CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
United Auto Workers held off additional strikes against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on Friday after GM agreed to add electric vehicle battery manufacturing plants under the union’s national agreement, President Shawn Fain announced. During a virtual news conference Friday afternoon with more than 60,000 people watching live, Fain said moments before the broadcast began that GM had agreed to place EV battery manu-
facturing under the agreement after the UAW threatened to shut down a plant in Arlington, Texas. “What this will mean for our membership cannot be understated,” Fain said of the “win” for the union after it had been told for months that including EV jobs would be impossible. In a statement after Fain’s announcement, GM said: “Negotiations remain ongoing, and we will continue to work toward finding solutions to address outstanding issues. Our goal remains to reach an agreement that rewards our employees and allows GM to be successful into
the future.” While wearing an “Eat the Rich” T-shirt, Fain gave viewers a snapshot of where negotiations stood that afternoon. “Things move very fast,” he said. Since Ford’s first proposal, the company has increased its 9 percent wage hike up to a 23 percent offer, Fain said, with GM and Stellantis offers at around 20 percent. GM and Stellantis have cut workers’ progression time to reach top wages from eight years to four; with Ford cutting its progression to three years, Fain said. Ford and Stellantis also have
agreed to reinstate cost-of-living adjustments workers gave up in the mid-2000s when Detroit’s Big Three automakers faced bankruptcy. For temporary workers, Ford offered $21 per hour, while GM and Stellantis offered $20 per hour, he said. All three automakers have committed to converting those workers to full time. Ford has also given a $1.50-an-hour tool allowance for skilled trades workers, with Stellantis offering $1 an hour. The UAW is asking for a $2-an-hour allowance. For retirees, Fain said they are fighting for a pension increase
and retirement security for those without a pension. “This strike is about righting the wrongs of the past,” he said. In a statement Thursday, Ford said negotiations continue. “Our focus remains on working diligently with the UAW to achieve a record contract and a strong future for our employees,” it said in a news release. There are two Ford plants in Northeast Ohio: the Ohio Assembly Plant, which straddles Avon Lake, Sheffield and Sheffield Lake, and the Cleveland Engine UAW PAGE A5
County to receive $570K in federal CDBG funds STAFF REPORT
STEVE MANHEIM | The Community Guide
LEFT: Woolfert the Woollybear in the 51st Woollybear Festival parade. RIGHT: VFW Post 7576 in Vermilion. The 51st Woollybear Festival parade in Vermilion on Sunday, Oct. 8.
51st annual Woollybear Festival rings in autumn OWEN MACMILLAN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
VERMILION — Thousands gathered along Vermilion’s streets and milled about Victory Park for the 51st annual Woollybear Festival on Oct. 8. The festival, started in the Erie County town of Birmingham in 1972, celebrates the start of fall and the myth of using the bands of orange on woolly bear caterpillars to predict winter weather. It was founded in part by the late Fox 8 meteorologist Dick OWEN MacMILLAN | The Community Guide Goddard. His family and the Nolan Sokolowski, 7, collects his champion wooly bear “Candy Corn” as his sister, MadWOOLYBEAR PAGE A3 die, 10, (purple hat) looks on. Sunday, Oct. 8.
Fifty-one Ohio communities will share in more than $10.6 million that has been allotted to counties to support community development projects across the state. North Ridgeville and Sheffield Lake residents and neighborhoods that are low- to moderate-income will benefit from the funding. It will also benefit residents throughout the county who are served by Neighborhood Alliance’s Meals on Wheels program and people in need of fair housing program assistance.Of its $570,000 allocation, Lorain County will use $220,500 to replace water mains and part of the roadway on Alameda Avenue in Sheffield Lake; $150,000 to repair streets in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods in North Ridgeville; $87,500 for the Meals on Wheels program; $18,000 in mandatory Fair Housing Program funding; and $96,000 in funding for authorities to administer the programs. The Lorain County Board of Commissioners held several public hearings on the program this year, and made a final decision on the CDBG PAGE A2
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Teachers authorize strike ● A3
Oberlin
Sports
Indigenous Peoples’ Day ● A5
Wellington volleyball senior night ● A6
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8