President Biden praised a new agreement between the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and Daimler on Sunday. The agreement means that about 7,000 workers at Daimler’s North Carolina plant and distribution centers in the South won’t go on strike.
“I applaud the UAW and Daimler for reaching a tentative agreement for a record contract,” Biden said. “The UAW workers at Daimler are building the trucks and school buses of the future right here in America.”
“This agreement is a testament to the power of collective bargaining and shows that we can build a clean energy economy with strong, middle-class union jobs,” he added.
UAW President Shawn Fain said the new contract includes wage increases of more than 25 percent over the next four years, including a 10 percent raise after the deal is ratified. Fain said the deal also includes the end of wage tiers at the company, as well as cost-of-living adjustments and “profit sharing for the first time in Daimler history.”
The agreement with Daimler is part of the UAW’s effort to organize auto assembly plants in the South. Last week, 73 percent of workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., voted to join the UAW. It was the first time the union had succeeded in a Southern assembly plant owned by a foreign automaker.
Workers at Mercedes factories in Tuscaloosa, Ala., will vote on UAW representation in May. However, the UAW’s efforts have faced opposition from Republican governors and business leaders in the South.
