Originally published in Labor Today
The UAW has reached a tentative agreement with the truck and bus manufacturer Daimler Truck as their contract was set to expire at midnight on Friday, April 26th. 7,300 Daimler Truck employees were able to secure a four year agreement that included raises over 25%, profit sharing, abolition of wage tiers, and cost of living adjustments (COLA). Workers at Daimler Truck had been intensifying their campaign for better working conditions months before the contract expiration.
“We said the company doesn’t get to keep all the profits while the workers who build the product get crumbs. So we won profit-sharing for the first time in Daimler history to get our share of that so-called “leftover money” from their “red hot” profits.” Explained UAW President Shawn Fain.
“We said the company shouldn’t be able to ship work overseas on a whim. And we won increased job security and increased the “build rates.” This guarantees a certain minimum number of vehicles will be built at each plant, so workers can know their work will be there tomorrow.”
The tentative agreement reached with Daimler Truck now marks several contracts that have seen historic gains since the UAW’s campaign against Ford, GM, and Stellantis, including gains made at Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, Chattanooga Volkswagen workers voting to join the UAW, and many other organizing campaigns going back to October 2023.