Union workers go on strike at Mack Trucks

Around 4,000 union workers at Mack Trucks facilities went on strike Monday morning after rejecting a tentative contract Sunday evening.

Striking Mack workers in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida are represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which is also actively engaged in separate negotiations with three major Detroit automakers. 

Nearly three-quarters — 73 percent — of workers voted against the tentative deal, UAW President Shawn Fain said in a letter sent Sunday to the director of employee relations at Volvo, which owns Mack.

Mack workers walked out at 7 a.m., according to the union, upping the pressure on the automotive industry.

More than 30,000 UAW workers across 22 states are now on the picket line, the UAW said in a statement released Monday. 

“I’m inspired to see UAW members at Mack Trucks holding out for a better deal, and ready to stand up and walk off the job to win it,” Fain said in the statement.

Union leaders had reached a tentative agreement with Mack on Oct. 1 that included a 10 percent wage increase in the first year, a compounded 20 percent wage increase over the five-year contract, a $3,500 bonus upon contract ratification and a guarantee that health insurance premiums would not increase.

But the union and the company remain at odds on issues including “wage increases, cost of living allowances (COLA), job security, wage progression, skilled trades, shift premium, holiday schedules, work schedules, health and safety, seniority, pension, 401(k), healthcare and prescription drug coverage, and overtime,” Fain wrote in the letter.

A Mack Trucks spokesperson pointed The Hill to a Sunday statement in which Mack President Stephen Roy said the company was “surprised and disappointed” by the union’s decision to strike, a decision it called “unnecessary.”

The statement also emphasized that the UAW had called the tentative agreement a record for the heavy truck industry. 

“The members have the final say, and it’s their solidarity and organization that will win a fair contract at Mack,” Fain said.

The UAW did not return The Hill’s request for comment.

Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) voiced his support for the striking workers in his district.

“I stand with UAW 171 today as they begin a strike in Hagerstown. Union workers built this country to what it is today, and I have and will always fight to ensure American workers and their families have the benefits they so rightly earned. We support you every step of the way,” Trone said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

The UAW has set expectations high in its bargaining with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the three major Detroit automakers against which the UAW launched targeted strikes at selected facilities Sept. 15.

The initial strikes targeted one assembly plant for each automaker. The union later expanded strikes to include 38 GM and Stellantis parts warehouses and two additional Ford and GM assembly plants.

The UAW announced Friday that it would not expand the strikes after GM agreed to bring electric vehicle facilities into the UAW contract, unionizing roles around which there had been significant uncertainty, and progress with all three automakers.

Updated at 12:44 p.m.