United Auto Workers members at Mack Trucks have agreed to a new contract after more than a month on strike.
In a , formerly known as Twitter, the UAW said 93% of its 3,900 members working at Mack Trucks locations in Lower Macungie, Maryland and Florida voted Wednesday to ratify the new contract. The union said the new agreement contained “significant local improvements.”
NEWS: After 39 days on strike, UAW members at Mack Trucks have voted by 93% to ratify their new contract with significant local improvements.
— UAW (@UAW)
Mack Trucks in a news release Wednesday evening said the new contract is a five-year agreement.
“The new agreement guarantees significant wage growth and delivers excellent benefits for our employees and their families,” said Mack President Stephen Roy in the news release. “At the same time, it will safeguard our competitiveness and allow us to continue making the necessary investments in our people, plants and products.”
The Mack union workers had been on strike since Oct. 9. A day earlier, they rejected an Oct. 1 tentative agreement with Mack, which UAW leadership had endorsed and called a “record” contract for the heavy truck industry.
The new agreement retains the Oct. 1 proposal, with modifications to the local agreement, both union and Mack officials confirmed prior to Wednesday’s vote.
‘The members have spoken.’ Why workers at Mack Trucks are on strike
UAW Local 677, which represents workers at Mack’s Lehigh Valley Operations plant in Lower Macungie, said in a notice to members last week that negotiations had wrapped up with Mack saying the Oct. 1 offer “was their last best and final offer.”
LVO workers held a rally last month at the plant, reiterating their concerns about cost-of-living adjustments to wages along with plant protections that include job security and work-life balance.
The Oct. 1 agreement included a 10% general wage increase in the first year for all employees, a compounded increase of about 20% to general wages over five years and a guarantee of no increases in health insurance premiums through the term of the contract.
Other highlights included an 8.5-hour workday with a paid lunch to help step up production, a potential down week during holiday weeks, alternate shift schedules, and scheduled overtime language for skilled trades to retain work and prevent outsourcing.
In addition to the 2,300 union workers at the Lower Macungie plant, Mack employs another 1,600 union workers at the Maryland and Florida locations.
This story will be updated.
