United Auto Workers And Mack Trucks Avoid Strike With Tentative Deal

The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative labor contract with Volvo Group's Mack Trucks on Sunday, avoiding a potential strike from nearly 4,000 autoworkers.

While the labor contract between the UAW members in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida expired Sunday night, the two parties have been negotiating since late August. Roughly 98% of members employed by Mack voted in favor of a strike, according to the UAW.

“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.”

As of Sept. 28, the UAW said the Greensboro, North Carolina-based company had rejected nearly every union demand, including 401k retirement plan increases, pension plan adjustments and cost-of-living adjustments. But, just four days later, the two sides came to an agreement.

The exact details of the agreement are not yet public, so it's impossible to know what concessions were made by either party. However, the tentative agreement between the UAW and the company shows that an agreement can be reached.

It also provided some relief for the UAW's $825 million strike fund which has been slowly draining funds to support striking autoworkers, who are being paid roughly $500 per week from its coffers.

As of last Friday, roughly 25,000 members of the UAW were on targeted strikes against Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis, a fraction of the union's total 146,000 members employed by the Detroit Three automakers. The UAW's strategy — which allows it to ask local chapters to strike against specific automaker-owned facilities as it pleases — helps to reduce the strain on the fund.

On Friday, the UAW called on 7,000 UAW members to begin striking Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and GM's Lansing-Delta Township facility in Michigan, citing the companies' refusal to take "meaningful progress" in negotiations. Stellantis, which made several concessions just minutes before UAW President Shawn Fain was scheduled to announce additional strike targets, was spared.

On Sept. 22, the union asked workers at all 38 parts distribution centers operated by GM and Stellantis to strike the companies' facilities, although it spared Ford at the time due to "serious progress" at the bargaining table. The latest strike actions prove that the UAW is willing to keep pressure on the automakers to force progress — something that Mack avoided.

"I'm still very hopeful that we can reach a deal that reflects the incredible sacrifices and contributions our members have made over the last decade," Fain said. "But I also know that what we win at the bargaining table depends on the power we build on the job. It's time to use that power."

The union is also entering its 12th day of strikes against Mercedes-Benz supplier ZF Chassis Systems' Tuscaloosa, Alabama, facility. The plant's 190 UAW members help make front axles used by the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, which produces the GLE, GLE coupé and GLS model SUVs, including the Mercedes-Maybach GLS.

“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.”