Allison Transmission Workers Reject Labor Deal, Stay on Job
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Some 1,500 Allison Transmission Holdings employees rejected a deal the company struck with union negotiators, but will remain on the job while talks continue, the company said Dec. 1.
Automatic transmission manufacturer Allison did not return requests for comment on the next steps for the two sides.
Around 96% of the United Auto Workers Local 933 Indianapolis members employed by the medium- and heavy-duty truck transmission supplier voted against a tentative agreement concluded a day before Thanksgiving.
Both Allison and the union kept mum about the terms of the tentative agreement, with the company arguing doing so respected the ratification process.
"The tentative contract between the United Auto Workers Local 933 and Allison Transmission in Speedway has been rejected."https://t.co/ropa044xe9 — UAW (@UAW) December 2, 2023
UAW Local 933 authorized a strike Oct. 25 with 99% approval. A 2017 labor deal was due to expire Nov. 14. On Nov. 16, the two sides said employees were continuing to work while negotiators remained at the table.
Under the tentative agreement, production employees hired before Feb. 1, 2008, would receive a 10% wage increase upon ratification of a new labor deal followed by 5% lump sum payments in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Production employees hired after Feb. 1, 2008, would receive a 10% or greater wage increase upon ratification, a 5% lump sum payment in 2025, a 3% wage increase in 2026 and a 5% lump sum in 2027, according to a copy of the agreement posted on the Local 933 website.
The copy of the agreement posted online also indicated a ratification bonus of $2,000 was in the cards if the agreement were approved by Dec. 1.
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Indianapolis-based Allison operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Hungary and India, the largest of which is in its hometown.
Allison reported third-quarter net sales of $736 million, a 4% rise compared with $710 million in the same period a year earlier, driven by an 11% increase in North American on-highway division sales.
The company said the increase was primarily driven by strength in customer demand for Class 8 vocational and medium-duty trucks and price increases on certain products.
Expectations were high for the final three months of 2023, Chief Financial Officer Frederick Bohley said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
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“We do have an elevated expectation for Q4 and outside North America off-highway versus what we saw in Q3,” Bohley said. “There’s a significant amount of demand for medium-duty and Class 8 straight, and we feel very solid about where that order book is going into the fourth quarter.”
One of Allison’s Class 8 vocational truck customers is Mack Trucks, which in August expanded use of the Allison 4500 Rugged Duty Series to compressed natural gas-powered Mack Granite trucks.
Volvo Group subsidiary Mack had its own labor issues this fall, with UAW members walking off the job Oct. 9. Output at the original equipment manufacturer’s Macungie, Pa., and Hagerstown, Md., plants did not ramp up again until Nov. 20.
