UAW rank-and-file reject Mack Trucks contract; 4,000 workers strike in 3 states

Union workers at Mack Trucks overwhelmingly rejected a proposed five-year contract deal and will go on strike on Monday, the UAW said late on Sunday, making it the latest tentative labor agreement to be voted down by its members.

About 73 percent of workers voted against the deal covering 4,000 workers in Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland, the UAW said. The union will go on strike at 7 a.m. EDT Monday.

Unions have used labor actions to keep employers off-balance this year in the auto, shipping and health care industries as they negotiate new contracts. Polls have shown that most Americans broadly support the unions' demands. In the last 12 months, freight rail workers and employees at shipping giant FedEx have rejected tentative agreements reached between union management and companies before later reaching deals.

The UAW has been on a targeted strike against facilities of the Detroit 3 automakers since Sept. 15. About 25,000 of the 146,000 UAW employees at General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler parent Stellantis are on strike. At least another 7,300 layoffs have been blamed on the strike, according to Automotive News research.

The proposed Mack deal had included a 19 percent pay hike, a $3,500 ratification bonus, improved retirement benefits, additional vacation for some employees and a reduction in the time needed to get to top pay.

"I'm inspired to see UAW members at Mack holding out for a better deal, and ready to stand up and walk off the job to win it," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement late on Sunday.

After Mack workers voted down the deal, the UAW sent a strike notice to the company saying "many topics" remain at issue, including wage increases, cost-of-living allowance, job security and wage progression.

Mack President Stephen Roy said in a statement the company was "surprised and disappointed" that the UAW has chosen to strike and called the move unnecessary.

"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," Roy said.

Mack, which was bought by Volvo Group in 2000, is one of North America's largest makers of medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks. Roy noted that Mack is part of "the only heavy-truck manufacturing group that assembles all of its trucks and engines" in the U.S. Volvo Group is not affiliated with Geely-owned Volvo Cars.

The UAW said it would contact Mack to set dates to resume bargaining. Mack said it was committed to the collective bargaining process, and remained confident it would be able to reach an agreement.

"As you are aware, UAW members and workers across the economy are mobilizing to demand their fair share," the UAW said in a letter to Mack. "The union remains committed to exploring all options for reaching an agreement, but clearly we are not there yet."

Fain said on Friday the union would not expand the Detroit 3 strikes, citing progress in talks, including that Ford had upped its proposed wage hike to 23 percent through early 2028.

Combined with proposed cost-of-living-adjustments, workers could receive pay increases of around 30 percent, people familiar with the proposal said.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank estimated GM has lost 34,176 vehicles of production during the strike, Ford 21,296 vehicles and Stellantis 18,893 vehicles, reducing total Detroit Three earnings by $946 million to date.

Mexico's auto parts industry is expected to register a $412 million hit to production by Friday, a trade group said Monday.

Anderson Economic Group estimates a total economic loss of $5.5 billion through the third full week of the strike, including in lost wages, $2.68 billion in automaker losses, $1.6 billion for suppliers and $1.26 billion in dealer and customer losses.

Last week, health care workers at Kaiser Permanente walked out for three days as negotiations drag on with one of the largest U.S. nonprofit hospital network and managed-care organizations.