UAW Members Ratify Four-Year Freightliner Labor Deal
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United Auto Workers members ratified a four-year labor deal with Daimler Truck North America covering 7,400 mostly Freightliner employees, the union said May 4.
DTNA and the union inked a tentative agreement April 26, hours before the previous deal was set to expire.
The deal takes effect immediately and runs through March 3, 2028, DTNA said in a May 6 statement.
“We are very pleased to have reached agreements with our bargaining partner, the UAW,” DTNA CEO John O’Leary said. “The new agreements demonstrate the value we place on our employees as our most important resource.
O'Leary
“We look forward with confidence to a future that allows us to focus on what we collectively do best — building truck and buses and delivering parts for commercial vehicles that help our customers keep the world moving.”
The deal covers unionized staff at DTNA’s Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant, Mount Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant and Gastonia Parts Plant, all in North Carolina; the Atlanta Parts Distribution Center; Memphis Parts Distribution Center; and the Thomas Built Buses facility in High Point, N.C.
Cleveland Truck is Freightliner’s largest U.S. manufacturing plant, while Mount Holly produces Freightliner’s medium-duty models. The Gastonia facility carries out stamping, metal fabrication and sub-assembly of cab and chassis parts, according to DTNA. Freightliner consistently sells more Class 8 trucks in the U.S. than any other brand.
Fain
The UAW said the deal was ratified by 94.5% of members. It includes an overall raise of more than 25%, the introduction of profit-sharing and a cost-of-living adjustment, which the union said was a first at DTNA. Following the ratification, employees will receive a 10% raise, followed by a 3% increase six months later and another 3% six months after that.
UAW President Shawn Fain said, “Daimler workers and UAW members are not only setting the standard but raising it.”
Freightliner rival Mack Trucks was hit by a six-week work stoppage amid union negotiations in October and November, which cost it a minimum of 1,800 Class 8 vehicles, according to analysts at S&P Global.
RELATED: UAW, Mack Trucks Ratify New Collective Bargaining Agreement
“I’m really glad that we were able to settle with the UAW without any strike, so we don’t have a loss on that side,” Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum said during a May 3 first-quarter earnings call. “I feel much more positive about the market.”
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