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UAW members ratify first contract at Thomas Built Bus
10.18.2005

Members of UAW Local 5287 have voted to ratify a first contract agreement with Thomas Built Bus (TBB), a division of Freightliner, LLC. Ninety-two percent of members voted to ratify the five-year agreement during voting Oct. 9 in High Point, N.C.

“This agreement brings democracy into our workplace, lowers our health care premiums, and brings significant economic gains to our membership,” said Niels Chapman, president of Local 5287. “We look forward to a continuing, productive relationship with Thomas Built Bus.”

A majority of TBB workers voted for union representation during an NLRB-supervised election in July 2005, the latest in a string of UAW organizing victories at Freightliner-owned manufacturing, parts distribution and pre-delivery inspection delivery facilities. More than 8,000 workers at eight Freightliner facilities in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee are now represented by the UAW.

UAW-represented workers at TBB will pay lower monthly premiums for health care under the terms of the agreement, and receive expanded coverage for dental care and prescription drugs. Workers who elect single coverage will save $300 per year in the first three years of the agreement, and $180 per year in the final two years. Workers who elect family coverage will save $600 per year in the first three years of the contract, and $360 per year in the final two years.

At the conclusion of this five-year contract, UAW-represented TBB workers will be paying less for health care than they are today.

The new contract includes substantial economic gains, with an emphasis on pay equity for workers who have been impacted by previous changes in pay grades. The agreement provides for two 30-cents-per-hour wage increases for assembly technicians and machine operators.

Workers in Grade 4 skilled trades who attain journeyman certification will receive up to four 25-cents-per-hour raises in the second, third, fourth and fifth years of the contract.

In addition, workers who have at least seven years with the company, but who are not at the top step of their respective classifications, will receive a one-step increase, effective immediately.
All workers, except those receiving the step increase, will receive a $500 lump-sum payment before the end of this year. There will be two additional lump sums of $500 each for all workers with at least one year seniority, in the third and fifth years of the contracts.

In addition, two $500 lump sums will be paid in the second and fourth years of the contract to all workers with one year seniority, except for assembly technicians, machine operators and Grade 4 skilled-trades workers, who will receive wage increases as outlined above.

The new contract also establishes a framework for democracy in the workplace, including elected union representation, a grievance procedure and a provision for neutral, third-party arbitration of disputes that cannot be resolved through discussions between labor and management.

The agreement will also give UAW-represented workers at TBB new opportunities to work with management to address health and safety concerns in the plant, including creation of a joint safety committee and development of a comprehensive ergonomics program.

The union and the company also agreed that a UAW flag will fly over the Thomas Built Bus facility in High Point, and all buses produced in the facility will include a UAW-TBB quality sticker.
The five-year labor agreement will expire at midnight Oct. 10, 2010.