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HAMMOND | A tentative agreement has ended a strike at the Lear Corp. automotive seat factory in Hammond, a day after workers walked off the job.

Lear and the United Auto Workers Local 2335 reached the agreement Sunday, putting an end to the strike.

“The agreement shows that when workers stick together, we can win higher wages that help us support our families,” said union president Jaime Luna, who has worked at the factory on 165th Street for 19 years.

“The agreement is a victory not just for the 760 workers at our plant, but for thousands of auto workers across the country who do the same hard work we do and want to be able to reach the middle class,” he said.

A new five-year contract still needs to be ratified by the local union chapter, but no date has been set for a ratification vote.

Workers at the plant make seats for Explorers and Tauruses that are produced at Ford’s nearby Chicago Assembly Plant in Hegewisch. They went on strike to protest low wages they likened to those paid in the fast food industry and a two-tier pay system that capped compensation for recently hired workers to $16 an hour.