Mack Trucks, Pennsylvania Union Reach Tentative Three-Year Deal

[kscarbel2]

The Morning Call  /  October 3, 2016

Volvo Group subsidiary Mack Trucks, which is the largest employer in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania, and the union representing its local workers reached a labor agreement the weekend of Oct. 1.

"We reached a tentative three-year agreement yesterday, but we can't provide any other details at this time," Mack spokeswoman Kim Pupillo said Oct. 3.

Mack's existing contract with United Auto Workers Local 677 expired at midnight Oct. 1.

While union officials did not return calls seeking comment on Oct. 3, the union posted on its website at 2:45 p.m. Oct. 2 that a tentative agreement had been reached.

In addition, a pre-recorded message on the union's answering machine informed workers of the agreement and told them to report to work as scheduled.

Online posts from the union indicate negotiations continued until after 2 a.m. Oct. 2, with those talks revived again shortly after, at 8:30 a.m.

Even before the agreement was reached the afternoon of Oct. 2, a post from the union at 8 a.m. Oct. 2 told members to report to work as scheduled unless they heard from picket captains saying they were going on strike.

The 1-million-square-foot plant in Lower Macungie is where all Mack trucks built for the North American market and export are assembled.

The company's Lehigh Valley Operations employ approximately 1,500 employees.

With heavy-duty truck demand sagging this year, Mack has several weeklong production shutdowns — or temporary layoff weeks — scheduled this fall. In fact, the Lower Macungie plant will be idled during the week of Oct. 17, when one of the weeklong shutdowns is scheduled.

The local plant also has a new manager. Rickard Lundberg, a longtime executive at Sweden-based parent company Volvo Group, started as vice president and general manager of Mack Lehigh Valley Operations on Oct. 1.

[kscarbel2]

Mack Trucks workers approve three-year contract

The Morning Call  /  October 24, 2016

Union workers at Mack Trucks have ratified a new, three-year labor agreement.

United Auto Workers Local 677 posted Sunday night on its website that all local contracts passed ratification, with the master contract being approved "by 77 percent."

Ed Balukas, Local 677 president, and company spokespeople did not return messages Monday seeking comment. Local workers voted Sunday at Willow Lane Elementary School in Lower Macungie Township, according to the union website.

On Oct. 2, workers had reached a tentative agreement which covers 2,601 employees in three states, including Local 677 members in Allentown, Lower Macungie and Middletown, Dauphin County, in addition to other UAW local members in Hagerstown, Md., Baltimore and Jacksonville, Fla.

Mack's 1-million-square-foot plant in Lower Macungie is where all Mack trucks built for the North American market and export are assembled. The company's Lehigh Valley Operations employ about 1,500 people.

The new contract comes amid a decline in deliveries for the heavy-duty truck maker. On Friday, Mack Trucks reported its weakest third quarter for delivered trucks in six years. Mack said it fulfilled 3,963 trucks in the quarter, down 40 percent from the 6,623 it sent out during same quarter in 2015. That was the weakest output for Mack since 2010, when it delivered 3,144 trucks during the period.

To meet the lower demand, Mack in July said it scheduled four down weeks in Lower Macungie. Two of those shutdowns, or temporary layoff weeks, occurred during the third quarter. In addition, Mack workers were idled last week and are scheduled for another shutdown the week of Dec. 12.

Mack spokesman Christopher Heffner said Friday the company has added the week of Jan. 2 as another down week.

In its report Friday, Volvo Group — Mack's Sweden-based corporate parent— said production in its North America manufacturing network will be "further reduced in the fourth quarter to allow for further inventory reduction at dealers."

The decline in demand was expected, considering Mack realized 2015 would be the peak of the current buying cycle in the heavy-duty truck market, Heffner said. Mack delivered 27,411 vehicles in 2015, its strongest year since 2006.

The local plant also has a new manager. Rickard Lundberg, a longtime executive within Volvo Group, started Oct. 1 as vice president and general manager of Lehigh Valley Operations (LVO).