UAW, Daimler Truck Reach Labor Agreement – Equipment

UPDATED 5/6/2024: Shortly before the expiration of the United Auto Workers union contract with Daimler Truck North America, the two sides reached a tentative agreement, avoiding the union’s threat of a strike.

With the previous six-year contract set to expire at midnight on Friday, April 26, UAW President Shawn Fain announced the four-year agreement in a direct address to membership, saying the deal delivers major economic gains for 7,300 workers.

UAW members at Daimler Truck ratified the new contracts by nearly 95%, according to a May 6 Daimler Truck announcement.

This story originally ran April 29, 2024, and has been updated as of May 6, 2024, to reflect the ratification of the agreement.

The agreement covers employees at DTNA’s manufacturing and component facilities in High Point, North Carolina (Thomas Built Buses), Mount Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant, Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant, Gastonia Parts Plant, Atlanta Parts Distribution Center, and Memphis Parts Distribution Center.

The new collective bargaining agreements are effective immediately and run through March 3, 2028.

What’s Next for the UAW-Daimler Truck Deal?

Fain said the deal includes raises of more than 25%, the end of wage tiers, and the introduction profit-sharing and Cost-of-Living (COLA) for the first time since Daimler workers first organized with the UAW.

“The deal delivers on the union’s pledge that record profits mean record contracts,” he said.

The DTNA deal comes amidst a UAW campaign to organize southern auto assembly plants, following its success in landing new contracts with automakers in Detroit.

Late last year, unionized Mack Trucks workers reached an agreement on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement after more than five weeks on strike.