UAW President Shawn Fain announcing a tentative four-year contract with Daimler Truck North America ... [+]
This story has been updated to include Daimler Truck statement
Just 65 minutes before the UAW’s contract with Daimler Truck North America was due to expire, standing in front of those he called the “badass bargaining committee,” union President Shawn Fain announced a historic deal averting a strike by more than 7,000 workers at facilities in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
The four-year agreement includes raises of more than 25%, the end of wage tiers and the introduction profit-sharing and cost-of-living raises for the first time since Daimler workers first organized with the UAW.
Members awaiting a live update from Fain on Facebook became both impatient and hopeful when a scheduled 10 p.m. start time came and went. Some seemed to sense the delay was tied to last minute negotiations.
Fain all but confirmed that feeling when he told members, “They tried to stonewall us. But we kept our eye on the clock. And when that deadline came closer, the company was suddenly ready to talk.”
He also laid out further details of the tentative agreement which must be ratified by union members.
Those details include:
- Profit sharing
- Lowest paid workers at Thomas Built Bus will receive more than $8 per hour raises. Raises for some skilled trade workers will top $17 an hour.
- Increased job security and guaranteed build rates
- Health and safety improvements.
Fain was empowered to call a walkout after 96% of the workers at those plants voted on March 8 to give the union authorization to call a strike if necessary. It wasn’t.
“Daimler Truck North America and the United Auto Workers (UAW) have tentatively agreed to new collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) covering approximately 7,400 employees at our manufacturing and component facilities in High Point, NC (Thomas Built Buses), Mount Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant, Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant, Gastonia Parts Plant, Atlanta Parts Distribution Center, and Memphis Parts Distribution Center,” the company said in a statement. “The UAW members at these locations will now be asked to vote on the new contracts, and we hope to finalize them soon, for the mutual benefit of all parties.”
Winning a richer contract at Daimler Truck North America marks the UAW’s second big victory in the south in a week.
Exactly a week ago non-union workers at a Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW, giving the union its first win after decades of attempting to win approval to represent workers at foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S.
In May, workers at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama will vote on whether to join the union. It’s Fain’s goal to organize non-union auto workers operated by both foreign and domestic automaker.
Only this past Tuesdasy the UAW filed four unfair labor practice charges against Daimler Truck North America with the National Labor Relations Board.
The charges, filed on Tuesday include:
- Retaliation against workers involved in union activities or showing support for the union.
- Interference with workers’ rights to organize, bargain collectively and conduct other activities for “mutual aid and protection.”
- Discrimination against union members based on their union membership or union activities.
- Failure to bargain in good faith.
Fain did not address those charges in his remarks Friday night.
He said the union will celebrate the tentative new deal at a “victory rally” on Saturday at the UAW Local 3520 in Statesville, North Carolina.
