The labor union that represents striking employees at Mack Trucks facilities in three states is presenting fresh contract requests that the company deems “impractical.”
Mack Trucks released a statement last week, stating that the United Auto Workers (UAW) have put forth new contract demands that seem to negate the progress made in months of prior negotiations.
Both parties were set to restart negotiations today and continue through Thursday.
Around 3,900 workers at Mack Truck plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida initiated a strike on October 9th, rejecting a tentative contract agreement reached between the company and the union on October 1st.
Mack’s statement said:
After previously agreeing to what the UAW referred to as a “record” tentative agreement with Mack Trucks, United Auto Workers leadership today presented the company with a surprising new list of unreasonable economic demands, seemingly returning to day one of negotiations, and ignoring three months of good faith bargaining between the parties.
Given the UAW’s stated demands, Mack advised the union that the company looks forward to returning to the bargaining table on Monday and hopes the UAW leadership makes more realistic proposals.
“Unfortunately, the new UAW economic demands are completely unrealistic,” said Mack President Stephen Roy. “We’ve already shown that we’re prepared to provide our employees with significantly improved wages, but we are not prepared to jeopardize the company.”
The UAW has put forth a set of demands for a five-year contract, which includes provisions for wage increases, reinstating cost of living adjustments, maintaining current healthcare costs, accelerating the process to reach full wages, and boosting 401K and pension contributions. Additionally, the union is requesting more paid time off and improved benefits for retired workers.
On the other hand, the tentative agreement, which was initially agreed upon on October 1st but rejected by 73% of Mack’s UAW members, included a 10% general wage hike in the first year for all employees, a cumulative 20% increase in general wages over five years, and a guarantee that health insurance premiums would not rise during the five-year contract period. The union has indicated that there are still unresolved issues, including matters related to wage increases, holiday schedules, seniority, retirement, and benefits.
The strike at Mack’s plants is taking place in the context of an ongoing strike by 34,000 UAW members who have been on strike for five weeks at six vehicle assembly plants and 38 parts distribution warehouses of the three major American automakers.
