(Reuters) - Detroit Chassis, a company that supplies axles to Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co, agreed to let temporary workers at an Ohio plant join the United Auto Workers union after they threatened a strike that could have hit production of large Ford pickup trucks at a nearby plant, the UAW said on Tuesday.
All of the 58 workers at the Avon, Ohio plant of Detroit Chassis were hired as temporary employees, who generally get fewer benefits, lower wages and have less job security than full-time employees.
As union members, their future pay and benefits will be determined by collective bargaining.
The workers voted unanimously on Sunday to walk off the job if the company did not meet their demand to join the union, the UAW said in a statement. The UAW said a work stoppage at the Ford supplier could, within a day, have stopped production at the Ford plant in nearby Avon Lake, Ohio that makes F-650 and F-750 pickup trucks.
At Detroit Chassis' offices in Detroit, a company official declined to comment on the union vote in Ohio. The UAW represents workers at the company's Detroit plant as well.
The union said three-fourths of U.S. auto workers are employed by suppliers to the major automakers.
The UAW said workers at the Detroit Chassis plant were drawn to joining the union by the fact that 100 percent of them were without full-time status. Workers at the plant have been paid from $9.50 per hour to $11 per hour.