Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) have agreed to a new work contract with Daimler Truck. This contract promises a minimum of a 25% raise over four years for the workers.
Almost all the workers, about 94.5%, voted in favor of this new contract. It covers over 7,300 hourly UAW workers. They reached this agreement at the last minute in April, avoiding a strike.
The contract affects workers in six facilities in southern states where there aren’t many unions. These include four factories in North Carolina and some warehouses in Georgia and Tennessee.
This agreement comes right before workers at a Mercedes factory in Alabama vote on joining the UAW.
The contract also includes profit-sharing and adjustments for the cost of living. It’s for workers who make Freightliner and Western Star trucks, Thomas Built buses, and others. It also ends the wage tiers where some workers were paid less.
UAW President Shawn Fain said the raise matches what workers at other big car companies got last year.
Workers will get a 10% raise right away. After six and twelve months, they’ll get 3% more each time.
The lowest-paid workers at Daimler’s Thomas Built bus unit will get raises of more than $8 an hour. Some skilled workers will get more than $17 an hour.
Since last year’s deals with big car companies, the UAW has been working to organize workers in many non-union plants. They recently succeeded at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee.
Now, workers at a Mercedes car factory in Alabama and a nearby battery plant will vote on joining the union in May.
