...Machinists end strike, OK new pact at Freightliner
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erance language in one of its con-
tracts. So, when the company agreed
to successor and severance language
the bargaining committee agreed to
take it back to the membership (with
the previous rejected offer intact) for
a vote.
A successor clause will protect
workers if the Western Star brand is
sold — meaning the union contract
will be enforceable at a new company.
If the plant were to shut down, there
is language whereby the company
pledges to negotiate in good faith a
severance package.
“Good-faith” was a key issue
among the striking machinists.
“They’ve beaten the ‘give-a-crap’
out of us,” Wayne Poe, a 14-year em-
ployee told the Labor Press July 5
while walking a picket line on North
Basin Road.
“It’s been concession after conces-
sion after concession,” added Carl
Pollack, a 24-year employee. “It was
time to step up and take a stand.”
The last time workers struck
Freightliner was June 1970. Then, the
unions bargained separately. The
strike, which lasted three months, be-
gan with the Painters Union and
spread from there. At the time, the
Labor Press reported 751 Machinists,
111 Teamsters and 55 Painters were
on strike. Union officials said the dis-
pute wasn’t so much about money,
but more about working conditions.
Machinists nearly struck again in
2004. They rejected an initial offer,
but held off picketing because of a
scheduled summer maintenance shut-
Seven days into a strike at Freightliner Corp, members of Machinists Lodge
1005 cast ballots on a new contract proposal. The revised pact was ratified by
a vote of 461-153.
down. The second proposal passed by
just three votes.
Prior to that, in 1999, workers
agreed to a one-year contract exten-
sion and in 2001 they agreed to open
their contract after the company
pleaded poverty. In that contract,
workers accepted a $2 an hour pay
cut, relinquished a $1,500 signing
bonus and agreed to start co-paying
some of their medical insurance.
“We gave it back to keep the com-
pany going,” Pollack told the Labor
Press on July 5. “And they promised
us that our sacrifice would never be
forgotten.”
Six months after the concession
vote, Freightliner shut down its parts
plant, laying off around 600 employ-
ees.
Earlier this year, Freightliner
moved production of its signature-
brand truck from Portland to North
Carolina and Mexico, resulting in the
layoff of more than 800 employees.
Freightliner is a subsidiary of Ger-
man automaker DaimlerChrysler AG.
The Portland facility manufactures an
average of 38 Western Star brand and
military trucks at the plant each day.
No trucks were produced during the
strike.
“It’s been tough, but we got a hell
of a lot in this contract,” said Kear,
who was employed at Freightliner be-
fore being elected business agent. “I
don’t think we’ve ever had so many
improvements in one contract.”
Machinists will receive a 70-cent-
an-hour raise immediately, followed
by 50 cents an hour July 1, 2008, and
another 50 cents an hour July 1, 2009.
The starting wage at Freightliner is
$14 an hour. Top scale at the the plant
now is $22.25.
Freightliner contributes $3.95 an
hour to a defined benefit pension
plan. Under the new contract, that
will increase by 10 cents an hour
every six months for the next three
years.
Long-term employees receive
company-paid medical insurance un-
til age 65. Until this contract, Freight-
liner paid for supplemental medical
insurance to Medicare. Under the
terms of the new agreement, employ-
ees who are at least 50 and have 20
years or more of service on July 1,
2010 will continue to receive the sup-
plement. Employees who will be less
than 50 years of age and have less
than 20 years of service on July 1,
2010, will maintain health care cover-
age and retiree medical benefits until
they turn 65. Once Medicare kicks in,
no supplemental coverage will be
provided.
About half the workforce will lose
the supplement.
The union also was able to get
Freightliner to reduce current
monthly out-of-pocket payments for
health insurance premiums. The old
rate for single, two-person and family
coverage was $40, $90 and $130, re-
spectively. The new monthly rate is
$25, $55 and $80, respectively.
On the issue of mandatory over-
time, Freightliner must first give 24
hours notice and, with assistance
from a shop steward, find volunteers.
If volunteers run short, overtime will
be mandated by seniority — even if
the least senior employee isn’t quali-
fied to do the job.
“If the person is untrained, the
company will have to train them,”
Kear said. “They won’t use this.”
The mandatory overtime language
is for weekdays only.
NOTE: A new unit of 14 pre-de-
livery inspectors, members of Lodge
1005, unanimously ratified their first
contract in voting that took place July
10. Terms are similar to those ap-
proved by Machinists who manufac-
ture trucks, following their week-
long strike.
The new union members gained a
union pension, with Freightliner con-
tributing $3.95 an hour to a defined
benefit plan. They will receive wage
increases, a structured promotion sys-
tem, seven additional sick days and
six additional holidays. Eight tempo-
rary employees will become eligible
for permanent hire and will be cov-
ered under the agreement.
Zachary
Zabinsky
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PAGE 12
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JULY 20, 2007