United for Strength, Built on Solidarity

Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant (formerly Ohio Truck Plant) was opened in September, 1973. The original members of this plant (from Lorain UAW Local 425) were responsible for building and painting the body of the Econoline Vans, which were then transported by truck to Lorain Assembly Plant for final assembly. In 1976, members voted to become a separate local union and UAW Local 2000 was chartered on August 4, 1976. Our local retirees’ chapter was chartered on July 22, 1983 and they presently have 2,452 members, many of which remain active in the community.

Ohio Assembly Plant is located in the eastern end of Lorain County in three communities: Avon Lake, Sheffield Lake and Sheffield Village. The plant is approximately one mile south of Lake Erie and approximately 20 miles west of Cleveland, Ohio. The facility was originally built in 1946 by the Fruehauf Company and was utilized to build over-the-road trailers until 1972 when it was purchased by Ford Motor Company. At that time the plant consisted of 1,000,000 square feet under one roof on 242 acres. With three smaller expansions in the 1970’s and 1980’s and with the expansion associated with the 1992 Ford Econoline and the 1993 Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest, the plant had grown to 3.7 million square feet on a 419-acre campus. Ford recently completed construction on a 3 million square feet expansion, an investment of $1.5 billion. 

In 2008, Local 2000 became an amalgamated local union. Since then, we’ve added five new units: Unit 3 Leadec/GDI (Ohio Assembly Plant’s janitorial services), Unit 4 – Source Providers, Unit 5 – Detroit Chassis, Unit 6 – Autokiniton, all of Avon, and Unit 7 – Union Sorters of America, which works at the Ohio Assembly and Source Providers plants.

An integral part of UAW Region 2B under the leadership of Regional Director David Green, UAW Local 2000 plays an active role in the community through its continued involvement in assisting local and national charitable organizations. UAW Local 2000 is also an active participant in local, state, and national government and is committed to the same principles as the International UAW; to secure economic and social justice for all people.

Take a look at our region’s website: UAW Region 2-B and our international union’s website: International Union, UAW