This sound is generated automatically. Let us know if you have any feedback.
Dive Brief:
- The United Auto Workers ended their 39-day strike at Mack Trucks on Wednesday, voting to ratify a new contract with the OEM.
- Union workers will receive an average raise of 36 percent over five years, with immediate pay increases of nearly 15 percent, Mack spokeswoman Kimberly Pupillo told Trucking Dive. The agreement covers about 3,900 workers in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
- “The new agreement guarantees a significant wage increase and provides excellent benefits for our employees and their families,” said Mack President Stephen Roy. he said in a statement. Workers are expected to return to work on Monday.
Dive Insight:
Nearly half of the total workforce will see an average increase of 55 percent over five years, with an average immediate salary increase of more than 20 percent, a Mack representative said in an email.
Immediate increases for workers already receiving the top rate would put them on top of already higher market rates, the company said.
The deal came amid the possibility that union members could be replaced by strikers and lose a $3,500 ratification bonus, according to UAW correspondence.
“As a Bargaining Committee we met with the Company on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, in Philadelphia to discuss our requests for the Master Contract,” Pennsylvania-based Local 677 he said in a letter to union members, adding that the company rejected the union’s proposals. “The Company stated that we were at an impasse (deadlocked) and then made their last, best and final offer.”
UAW officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mack and the UAW previously reached a tentative agreement that would have seen a 10 percent across-the-board pay increase in the first year, a 20 percent compound increase over five years and a $3,500 bonus, according to to the company. The tentative deal came on October 1 before a previous contract expired, but workers rejected the proposal and went on strike on October 9, pushing for improvements to the contract.
The company provided public updates about site negotiations during the process and repeatedly referred to the UAW’s demands as unrealistic.
“We have already shown that we are ready to provide our employees with significantly improved wages,” Roy said. “But we’re not willing to put the company at risk.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include contract details provided by Mack Trucks.