Union leaders of about 7,200 auto workers said they had reached a last-minute wage deal with Daimler Trucks in three southern US states, averting a strike.
The tentative agreement between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Daimler Truck was signed just minutes before the contract was set to expire at midnight for workers who make long-haul trucks and buses. The UAW, led by President Sean Fein, said the 4-year agreement includes raises of more than 25 percent and regular cost-of-living adjustments. A strike would affect four industrial sites in North Carolina and one each in Tennessee and Georgia. The plants produce trucks and buses. "We said we need inflation protection," Fein said in a late-night Facebook Live broadcast, surrounded by autoworkers from Charlotte, North Carolina. "We won a living allowance for the first time in Daimler's history."
The wage agreement still needs to be ratified by workers. Fein said workers will hold a "victory rally" Saturday in Charlotte. In a webcast earlier this week, Fein attacked the manufacturer's boss, Martin Daum, for high executive pay and for funneling extra cash into shareholder payouts instead of adequately compensating workers. "We do not make concessions. We raise the bar for everyone and fight for what we deserve,” Fein said. "And we're not afraid to strike to get it."
The UAW won a landmark union campaign at Volkswagen's Tennessee plant a week ago after simultaneous strikes by Detroit's "Big Three" automakers led to wage increases. John Green, a forklift driver at Daimler Truck's Cleveland, North Carolina plant, characterized achieving an acceptable wage increase in light of inflation as a priority, along with job security and pay standardization at the six facilities.
In December 2021, Daimler Truck was spun off from Mercedes-Benz, which retains about a 30 percent stake in the truck company. The UAW hopes to add a Mercedes-Benz auto plant in Alabama to its network when workers vote next month in union elections in the first referendum since VW's victory in Tennessee. /BGNES, AFP
