Ford Suppliers In Hammond, Ind. Go On Strike
(CBS) -- Nearly 800 workers at a Hammond manufacturing facility that supplies seats for Ford's Chicago plant walked off the job Saturday morning.
WBBM's Mike Krauser reports.
Workers walking a picket line outside Lear Corp. headquarters on 165th Street in Hammond, Ind. There were 760 employees on strike.
Lorenzo Jones, a worker at the plant, say employees are striking over, among other things, a wage system that has some workers making little more than burger-flippers.
"We do a good job. We're masters of our craft," he says. "We should be compensated like it."
Ford orders seats for the Explorers and Tauruses, as well as police vehicles, as they are needed in production. Lear workers say the Ford plant could soon be idle, as a ripple effect occurs.
A Lear spokesman said the company had been negotiating "in good faith" with workers since Aug. 4, when the union contract expired.
"Our proposal to the union is fair and competitive. We are disappointed that the union went on strike and discontinued discussions," Mel Stephens said.