Nearly three-quarters of UAW members working at Mack Truck plants opted to strike, rather than ratify a tentative five-year agreement.
On Monday, the United Auto Workers announced roughly 4,000 union members would strike Mack Truck plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. The news comes after the company, a subsidiary of Volvo Trucks, reached a tentative agreement with union negoiators on October 1. According to a letter UAW president Shawn Fain sent the automaker, 73% of members voted against the deal, opting instead to go on strike at 7 AM.
In sum, UAW Locals 171, 677, 1247, 2301 and 2420 in Region 8 and Region 9 comprise the group of striking union workers throughout the East Coast. Workers at Mack Trucks in Macungie and Middletown, Pennsylvania; Baltimore and Hagerstown, Maryland and Jacksonville, Florida joined the picket line this morning. The decision adds to recent turmoil throughout the American automotive industry, as those 4,000 members join roughly 25,000 striking the Big Three automakers.
As of Monday, the UAW strike now spans more than 30,000 union workers in 22 states.
Just over a week ago, the tentative deal with Mack Trucks included a 10% pay raise in year one for all employees, compounding to 20% over the five-year contract period. Members would have also received a $3,500 signing bonus, no increases to health insurance premiums and increased annual lump sum payments for retirees.
Fain told Volvo Trucks’ head of labor relations that workers would leave the factories after completing work that prevented damage to manufacturing equipment. The union and the company, he goes on, are still apart on working schedules, health and safety concerns, pensions, health care and prescription drug coverage and overtime, among other labor issues.
“I’m inspired to see UAW members at Mack Trucks holding out for a better deal,” he said in a separate statement. “The members have the final say, and it’s their solidarity and organization that will win a fair contract at Mack. We trust that other stakeholders also appreciate that our market, business and competitive set are very different from those of the passenger car makers.” Mack Trucks, for its part, assembles all its engines and vehicles in North America for the U.S. market.
The UAW is currently striking select facilities at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis since September 14. The union expanded the strike to include additional plants multiple times over the past few weeks but did not announce any more workers would join the picket lines last Friday, after GM agreed to bring its electric vehicle battery plants into the UAW’s national agreement, ensuring those plants will be unionized. What’s more, Fain said in a weekly update that appreciable progress had been made with all of the Big Three, though the strike is still ongoing.
