Federal-Mogul union goes on strike

Van Wert independent

Members of United Steel Workers Local 14742 went on strike at Federal-Mogul Corporation when their contract with the company expired early Monday morning.

At issue, according to union members, are health insurance and other benefits, wages, and the company’s use of temporary workers when regular workers are still laid off.

It’s the second Van Wert union-labor battle for the United Steel Workers in the past five years, with the last one coming in 2008 when officials of the then-Kongsberg plant (formerly Teleflex Corporation) locked out its workers after they rejected substantial hourly pay cuts and other concessions sought by the Norway-based company.

The Kongsberg plant, then the third largest employer in the city, subsequently closed down operations in Van Wert, throwing more than 300 employees out of work.