In order to avoid their own production shutdown, Mack Trucks has reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union group.
According to UAW President Shawn Fain, “Our members at Mack voted by 98% to authorize a strike.” The existing contract between the union and the manufacturer expired at Midnight on October 1.
According to the five-year contract, 3,900 employees across three plants in three states, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida, as well as the truck maker’s customers.
Mack, owned by Sweden-based Volvo Group, makes medium and heavy-duty trucks for OTR and vocational applications.
They include the Class 8 Mack Anthem and Granite, and Mack MD Series (Classes 6 and 7).
“The terms of this tentative agreement would deliver significantly increased wages and continue first-class benefits for Mack employees and their families,” Mack President Stephen Roy stated in a release. “At the same time, it would allow the company to successfully compete in the market, and continue making the necessary investments in our people, plants, and products.”
During a Facebook livestream on Sept. 29, UAW President Shawn Fain had some choice words for the company.
“Sadly, Mack Truck is following the same tired playbook as so many of our other employers,” he said. “They’re dragging out bargaining until the very last minute. The company took three weeks to respond to our economic demands and then they put a long list of concessions on the table.”
Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at a General Motors assembly factory in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit, and a Stellantis factory in Toledo, Ohio.
The union’s demands include a 46% wage increase, restoration of traditional pensions, cost-of-living increases, reducing the workweek to 32 hours from 40 and increasing retiree benefits.
The UAW said 98% of hourly workers and 99% of salaried workers at Ford voted in favor of an authorization. GM passed by 96%, while the action was approved at Stellantis by 95%.
