United Auto Workers union reaches tentative deal on 5-year contract with Mack Trucks
The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks that covers about 4,000 workers in three states.
Mack Trucks confirmed a tentative agreement on a five-year contract early Monday after the UAW announced the deal just before midnight Sunday.
"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 said. "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."
"Nearly 4,000 UAW members at Mack Truck in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida (UAW Region 8 & Region 9) have a tentative agreement!," the union said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The UAW said that more details would become available as members review the tentative deal with Mack, which is owned by Volvo Group.
Mack said UAW members still need to ratify the agreement and that the union will schedule ratification meetings.
The deal announcement comes just after UAW expanded strikes against Detroit automakers Friday, ordering 7,000 more workers to walk off the job at a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, and a Ford plant in Chicago, to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers.
The strike began on September 15 when nearly 13,000 autoworkers halted work at Big Three assembly plants Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. A week later, another 5,600 workers at 38 GM and Stellantis-owned parts distribution centers in 20 states walked off the job. The activity marks the first UAW strike since auto workers walked out on GM in 2019.
Stellantis spared
Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance that the strikes were escalated because Ford and GM refused "to make meaningful progress" in contract talks.
The UAW spared additional strikes at Stellantis. Fain said the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram has made progress on negotiations, including in cost-of-living adjustments and giving workers the right to strike.
"We are excited about this momentum at Stellantis and hope it continues," Fain said.
President Biden joined UAW strikers this week in Michigan on the picket line — a historically unprecedented move for a sitting U.S. president — saying they saved the auto industry following the 2008 financial crisis and urging them to "stick with it."
- UAW targets more Ford and GM plants as union expands autoworker strike
- Biden joins picket line with UAW workers in Michigan: "Stick with it"
- Why are United Auto Workers striking? Here are their contract demands
What the UAW wants
The UAW's demands include a 36% pay increase across a four-year contract, annual cost-of-living adjustments, pension benefits for all employees, greater job security, restrictions on the use of temporary workers and a four-day work week. Along with a wage hike, the union also wants the automakers to eliminate a two-tiered wage system adopted at the companies after the 2008 financial crisis.
Automakers have long said that they are willing to give raises, but they fear that a costly contract will make their vehicles more expensive than those built at nonunion U.S. plants run by foreign corporations.