By Jonathan S. Reiskin, Associate News Editor This story appears in the Oct. 11 print edition of Transport Topics.
United Auto Workers members continue to make trucks and engines for Navistar Inc. even though their old contract expired Oct. 1, both parties said, adding that they are still in active negotiations.
An Oct. 1 online union update to members on negotiations said workers should “continue to work at all locations, as normal, until further notice.” The same statement said substantial issues still on the table include health care, pensions, safety and job security.
Employees at six sites around the nation are working without a contract at this point, as the 2007-2010 pact was not extended. The negotiations cover workers in Springfield, Ohio; Melrose Park, Ill.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; York, Pa.; Atlanta and Dallas.
Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said the union represents 2,000 potential workers, but many of them currently are laid off. He said the negotiating sessions are being held in Louisville, Ky.
“We’ve found common ground in several areas, but there are still competitive gaps in these facilities that need to be addressed,” said Barry Morris, Navistar’s director of labor relations.
Wiley said this deal is the company’s master contract with the UAW, but it also has smaller agreements for Indianapolis and Conway, Ark. Navistar also employs unionized steel workers at its engine foundry in Waukesha, Wis.
The Springfield plant makes medium-duty trucks, Melrose Park makes engines, Fort Wayne does truck engineering, and Atlanta, Dallas and York are parts distribution centers.
Although the parties are actively negotiating, the union has not ruled out a strike and said gate assignments for a labor dispute have been made.
The company has stressed that it wants operational flexibility and competitive rates of wage and benefit compensation.
Navistar also has nonunion manufacturing plants, including two engine factories in Huntsville, Ala., and its Escobedo, Mexico, plant for heavy trucks. The Chatham, Ontario, facility, which has made Class 8 tractors in the past, is inactive but not formally closed.
Navistar has said it would reopen the Chatham plant if it can get a labor contract with Canadian Auto Workers that offers greater flexibility in work rules.
