The United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement aimed at ending a strike at a Volvo Truck plant in Dublin, Virginia.
Members of UAW Local 2069 are scheduled to vote on the proposed contract July 9.
It will be third time the 3,000 members of Local 2069 will vote on a potential deal presented by negotiators. Union members voted down the previous two other contract proposals, saying neither agreement went far enough toward eliminating a two-tier wage system or changing the company’s health care plan.
The vote also will be a test for Ray Curry, the UAW’s new president, who was the lead negotiator in the talks with Volvo Truck, which began last winter. He assumed the UAW presidency July 1 from Rory Gamble, who elected to retire with a year left in his four-year term.
Curry is the fourth individual to lead the UAW in just under three years, including two who are scheduled to serve prison terms for their role in a scandal that has severely damaged the union’s reputation for honesty and undermined its political influence.
New president vows gains
“UAW members and their families felt strongly about the need for financial stability gains in this contract and were willing to strike not once, but twice, to achieve those gains,” Curry said in a statement.
“The elected bargaining team of the UAW Volvo Truck Council worked very hard to achieve these significant gains and they could not have achieved them without the solidarity of Local 2069 members.”
He added the latest proposal being brought up for a vote reflects significant updates from the prior two tentative agreements. The strike and picket lines will remain on-going through the ratification vote.
“Our members stood up for more substantial gains, and those were achieved,” said Mitchell Smith, director of UAW Region 8.
“The process of solidarity and member involvement in this contract has resulted in significant gains for all UAW members at Volvo Truck. I’m so proud of our members and their families for standing together to make these significant gains,” he said.
