Pictured is U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat and seasoned federal lawmaker, met with striking UAW workers of the metal plant in Parma, Ohio Monday, Parma a largely White middle class suburb of Cleveland and its UAW members among nearly $50,000 auto workers who joined strikers across the country last week on the picket lines.

A largely Black major American city led by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat and the city's third Black mayor, Cleveland, with a population of some 385,000 people, is Cuyahoga County's largest city, followed by Parma, which has some 80,000 people, Cuyahoga County a 29 percent Black Democratic stronghold.

“What we do is stand at picket lines and stand with the workers and help them with health care and government issues and let them know we have their backs,” Brown  told the striking union workers in Parma.

Brown urged a win-win in collective bargaining agreement negotiations, but also showed support for the striking workers, the strike now eight days old.

"Thousands of @UAW workers in Ohio and around the country are going without their paychecks and health insurance to demand @GM respect the work they do to make their company successful," said Sen. Brown on twitter.

The union contract negotiated in 2015 expired at 11:59 pm Sept. 14, the strike bringing some 33 manufacturing plants and 22 parts distribution warehouses to a halt, the largest strike since the GM strike of 2007.

In late 2018, General Motors announced it would layoff some 14,000 employees and cease production at five North American Plants this year, including some 1,400 workers at the Lordstown, Ohio plant that sits in Ohio’s 13th congressional district, a rust belt district led by Democratic U.S. Rep Tim Ryan, who joined striking UAW members on the picket line, Ryan telling reporters that he "unequivocally stands in solidarity with UAW workers."

Brown joins other members of Ohio's Democratic Congressional Delegation, namely Rep Marcia Fudge, Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan, also a presidential candidate, in demanding fair play for GM auto workers.