Dive Brief:
- 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 get a 36% increase on average over five years, with an immediate wage increase of nearly 15%, Mack spokesperson Kimberly Pupillo told Trucking Dive. The agreement covers about 3,900 workers in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
- “The new agreement guarantees significant wage growth and delivers excellent benefits for our employees and their families,” Mack President Stephen Roy said in a statement. The employees are slated to return to work Monday.
Dive Insight:
Nearly half of the total workforce will have an average increase of 55% over five years, with the average immediate wage increase being more than 20%, a spokesperson for Mack said in an email.
The immediate increases for workers already receiving the top rate would put them past already above-market rates, the company said.
The deal came amid the possibility of union workers being replaced by strikebreakers and missing out on 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 demands for the Master Contract,” Pennsylvania-based Local 677 said in a letter to union members, adding the company rejected union proposals. “The Company declared that we were at an Impasse (deadlocked), and they then gave their last, best and final offer.”
UAW officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mack and the UAW previously reached a tentative deal that would have had a 10% general wage increase in the first year, 20% compounded increase over five years and $3,500 bonus, according to the company. The tentative agreement came Oct. 1 before a previous contract expired, but workers rejected the proposal and went on strike Oct. 9, pressing for improvements to the contract.
The company provided public updates on the negotiations through a website during the process and repeatedly referred to UAW’s demands as unrealistic.
“We’ve already shown that we’re prepared to provide our employees with significantly improved wages,” Roy said. “But we are not prepared to jeopardize the company.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include contract details provided by Mack Trucks.
