Mack Trucks Autoworkers Get 19% Pay Raise In Tentative Contract

Autoworkers at Volvo Group's Mack Trucks will get a 19% pay raise over five years under a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers, according to a summary of the proposal reviewed by Reuters.

The UAW — representing members in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida —and Mack Trucks agreed to a tentative labor contract on Sunday, avoiding a potential strike from the members. The contract that nearly 4,000 UAW members employed by the company were operating under expired on Sunday night, and 98% percent of the members had voted in favor of a strike, according to the UAW.

The tentative agreement — which must still be ratified by workers — includes a $3,500 ratification bonus, additional vacation time for some employees, improved retirement benefits and a reduction in the time needed to get paid the maximum wage. Members will receive a 10% wage hike upon the ratification, Reuters reported.

The proposed pact includes a $1,000 annual payment to 401(k) plans to offset retirement health care costs for workers hired since 2009, as well as pension benefit increases. Current health care plans receive "modest" increases in copays, but there will be no hike to weekly health care contributions, according to Reuters.

“The terms of this tentative agreement would deliver significantly increased wages and continue first-class benefits for Mack employees and their families,” the company's president, Stephen Roy, said on Sunday. “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.”

The successful negotiations also helped save the UAW some cash. While the union has an $825 million strike fund, it has been slowly draining funds to support the autoworkers striking against Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis, who are entitled to around $500 per week from the UAW's coffers.

Additional workers may be called to strike against the automakers on Friday. At 2:00 p.m. ET, UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to give an update on the union's "stand-up strike" strategy, which allows the UAW to call local chapters to strike against specific facilities.

Fain has called on additional members to join the picket line at the end of the last two weeks.

As of last Friday, roughly 25,000 of the union's 146,000 members are on strike against facilities operated by the Detroit Three. Workers have staged walkouts at two Ford assembly complexes, two GM assembly complexes and one Stellantis assembly plant. All 38 parts distribution centers operated by GM and Stellantis are also being struck.

Autoworkers employed by Mercedes-Benz supplier ZF Chassis System's Tuscaloosa, Alabama, facility also are on strike. Roughly 190 UAW members there make front axles used by Mercedes-Benz's plant in Vance, Alabama, which produces GLE, GLE coupé and GLS model SUVs.

“There’s absolutely no reason why this company can’t afford to give Local 2083 members what they deserve,” Tim Smith, the UAW's Region 8 Director, said on Saturday. “ZF is making billions of dollars. It’s more of the same corporate greed we’re seeing all over our economy.”