WENTZVILLE — A tentative agreement between labor union and company officials has ended a four-day strike at the Lear Corporation’s plant in Wentzville.
Terms of the tentative agreement have not been released. However, Lear employees returned to work on Thursday morning, according to Bill Hugeback, president of the United Autoworkers Local 282, the labor union representing the Lear employees.
The return of Lear workers to the factory floor has also brought about the return of production at the nearby General Motors plant, which had sat idle for days due to the strike. The Lear plant makes seats for several models of Chevrolet vehicles.
In a statement, Lear officials said they are now “focused on resuming normal operations” at the Wentzville plant, which opened in 2022 and is one of several auto-related manufacturing plants surrounding the campus of the GM plant.
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Hugeback said details of the agreement will be shared with Lear’s 460 employees late afternoon on Thursday or early Friday morning.
A vote to ratify the contract will be scheduled in the coming days after employees have had a chance to read through the proposal, Hugeback said.
Lear employees went on strike Sunday to protest the company’s handling of employees’ health and safety concerns and demand higher wages and improved employee benefits. Hugeback said workers at the plant have developed severe back pain, knee pain, as well as carpal tunnel syndrome thanks to the repetitive nature of their work on the assembly line.
The strike came as negotiations between the company and the labor union over a new multi-year collective bargaining agreement had also reached an impasse.
This was the second time in 15 months that Lear employees had gone on strike over health and safety concerns.
“What stands out this time was that we had the GM plant shutdown. I think the fact that GM was shutdown put a lot of pressure on (the Lear),” Hugeback said. He also praised GM workers for being supportive of the striking Lear workers, visiting the picket line, offering food and bottles of water to the striking workers. Others have driven by honking their vehicles’ horns, raising fists in solidarity with the workers.
“I give them credit for helping us, too,” Hugeback said.
Ethan Colbert
