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United Auto Workers union reaches a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks

Michigan Public | By The Associated Press

Published October 2, 2023 at 1:41 PM EDT

United Auto Workers members walk in the Labor Day parade in Detroit, Sept. 2, 2019. The new president of the United Auto Workers gave his strongest warning yet Friday, June 16, 2023, that the union is preparing for strikes against Detroit’s three automakers.

The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks that covers about 4,000 workers in three states.

Mack Trucks confirmed a tentative agreement on a five-year contract early Monday after the UAW announced the deal just before midnight Sunday.

“The terms of this tentative agreement would deliver significantly increased wages and continue first-class benefits for Mack employees and their families,” Mack President Stephen Roy said. “At the same time, it would allow the company to successfully compete in the market, and continue making the necessary investments in our people, plants and products.”

“Nearly 4,000 UAW members at Mack Truck in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida (UAW Region 8 & Region 9) have a tentative agreement!,” the union said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The UAW said that more details would become available as members review the tentative deal with Mack, which is owned by Volvo Group.

Mack said UAW members still need to ratify the agreement and that the union will schedule ratification meetings.

The UAW expanded strikes against Detroit automakers Friday, ordering 7,000 more workers to walk off the job in Illinois and Michigan to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers.

It was the second time the union has widened the walkouts, which started more than two weeks ago at three assembly plants before the most recent addition of a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors factory near Lansing.

Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance that the strikes were escalated because Ford and GM refused “to make meaningful progress” in contract talks. Jeep maker Stellantis was spared from the third round of strikes.

Automakers have long said that they are willing to give raises, but they fear that a costly contract will make their vehicles more expensive than those built at nonunion U.S. plants run by foreign corporations.