UAW Workers at Mack Trucks Strike After Rejecting Deal

The workers at the Greensboro, N.C.-based company voted down the agreement with a 73% no vote on Sunday, according to a letter from the UAW posted on X. The letter was addressed to Holly Georgell, director of Volvo Trucks North America, which owns Mack Trucks.  

A strike had been avoided when a tentative agreement was reached before the union’s labor contract expired at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1.

The letter noted some issues remaining include wage increases, cost of living allowances, job security, wage progression, pensions, and 401(k), among others.

“We will contact you for available dates, times, and locations to reconvene bargaining and address our members’ concerns,” the UAW letter said.

“We are surprised and disappointed that the UAW has chosen to strike, which we feel is unnecessary,” Mack president Stephen Roy said in a statement to SMU.

“We clearly demonstrated our commitment to good faith bargaining by arriving at a tentative agreement that was endorsed by both the International UAW and the UAW Mack Truck Council,” he added.

The tentative agreement included a 10% general wage increase in year one for all employees, a compounded 20% increase to general wages over five years, and a guarantee of no increases in health insurance premiums through the term of the contract, the statement said.

UAW said Locals 171, 677, 1247, 2301, and 2420 in UAW Region 8 and Region 9 are represented. They cover workers at Mack Trucks in Macungie and Middletown, Pa.; Hagerstown and Baltimore, Md.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

The vote comes amid the ongoing UAW strike targeting all three Detroit automakers, which started on Sept. 15.