In a Jan. 6, 2011, file photo, workers install parts on a truck on the Volvo truck assembly line at the Volvo plant in Dublin, Va. A tentative labor deal between Volvo Trucks North America and a union representing nearly 3,000 workers who have gone on strike twice in 2021 at the Virginia truck plant was rejected by the striking workers, late Friday, July 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)AP
DUBLIN, Va. (AP) — Volvo Trucks North America says some striking workers crossed picket lines Monday at a southwestern Virginia factory as the company plans to restart production.
Spokesman John Mies wouldn’t say how many United Auto Workers members went inside the factory in Dublin, Virginia, near Roanoke. But he says in an email that it will take a few days to get assembly lines back up and running at the plant, which employs 2,900 UAW workers.
Union members at the heavy truck assembly plant have voted down three tentative contract agreements reached with local union negotiators, with the most recent rejection coming on Friday. They initially went on strike in April.
UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said Monday that about 10 workers crossed the lines Monday morning, in addition to a “handful” of union workers who had gone to work earlier. He said he didn’t have exact numbers.
Both Volvo Trucks and Rothenberg say workers will vote again on the third agreement again on Wednesday. “Our final offer is on the table; it is the third tentative agreement,” Mies said in an email Monday.
Rothenberg said the union is researching legal options and may have an announcement later Monday. He did not know if the company had enough workers to produce any trucks. He said in any strike, a small number of workers always cross picket lines.
On Friday, Volvo trucks said in a statement that it will implement terms and conditions of the third agreement, reached with local union leaders on July 1. Returning employees “will immediately receive the wage increases and benefits outlined in the July 1 agreement, except for the ratification bonuses that would be paid on contract ratification,” the company said.
The previous contract, reached in 2016, was to have expired in mid-March. Negotiations began in February. Workers went on strike from April 17 to 30 and returned to work as they were voting on the first agreement. But members rejected that offer in May.
The company announced another six-year tentative agreement later that month, but it was rejected June 6.
Mies said Monday the company is focused on employee training and equipment testing as it moves to restart assembly lines at the plant that makes semi tractors.
Volvo says the 1.6 million-square-foot (nearly 150,000-square-meter) Dublin plant is the largest manufacturer of Volvo trucks in the world. It is one of the largest private sector employers in the region, with approximately 3,300 employees, some 2,900 represented by the UAW.
“The ongoing strike — which we continue to believe is unnecessary — is hurting our customers, and has already set back our project to expand and upgrade the facility,” plant Vice President and General Manager Franky Marchand said in a statement last week. “No one is gaining from the current situation, and we will consider all options related to the bargaining process.”
The Volvo Group is the only heavy-duty truck manufacturing group that assembles all of its trucks and engines for the North American market in the U.S., according to Volvo. It said the plant is undergoing a $400 million investment for technology upgrades, site expansion and preparation for future products, including the Volvo VNR Electric truck.
It added the plant has added 1,100 jobs since the current union agreement was implemented in 2016 and is on track to have a net increase of approximately 600 positions in 2021.
End game: Volvo reopens plant and encourages strikers to come back
UAW urges strikers to hold out through second ratification vote Wednesday
Volvo Trucks North America resumed production at its Virginia assembly plant on Monday, encouraging UAW strikers to come back to work under terms of its “last, best, final” offer.
UAW Local 2069 voted down a third tentative agreement on Friday by closer margins than two previous proposed deals rejected by 9:1 margins. The union scheduled a second ratification vote for Wednesday. If members vote in favor of the deal, they would get a $2,000 pretax signing bonus. If voted down again, Volvo will impose the terms of the latest agreement.
“Our last offer delivered significant wage gains and first-class benefits for our employees, and 40% of UAW voters supported it,” Franky Marchand, vice president and general manager of New River Valley Operations, said in a statement Sunday.
The union technically took three votes. It rejected hourly and general contract terms 60% to 40% and voted 67% against the pay package.
“We need to safeguard our future and start building trucks for the many customers and dealers whose businesses and livelihoods depend on our products,” Marchand said.
Difficult position
The implementation of the most recent tentative agreement put 2,900 Local 2069 members in a difficult position: Cross their own picket lines after six weeks of striking or hold out for an inevitable legal challenge to the company
“We are asking all members to not cross the picket line,” Local 2069 President Matt Blondino said in a letter posted on the local’s Facebook page. “We are still on strike until further notice.”
“Basically they are trying to break our union by asking you to return to work tomorrow.”
Matt Blondino, UAW Local 2069 president
In a video posted on Facebook on Sunday, Blondino said: “Basically they are trying to break our union by asking you to return to work tomorrow.”
Negotiations toward a new agreement, lengthened to six years from the previous five-year pact, began in February. Workers struck for 12 days after a 30-day contract extension expired April 17. They returned to work before rejecting the first tentative agreement. A second offer in June also failed, leading to the current strike, which began June 7.
On July 1, the third tentative agreement was reached. Provisions included raising the wage of hourly production workers to $30.92 in 2026 and eliminating a two-tier wage structure that had been in place since 2008. New workers started at a lower wage and needed eight years to reach parity.
No more negotiations
Blondino said in the video that no further negotiations would be held because Volvo said it had made its last, best offer.
“But If they give us a definite date of return back to work, that is the date a labor charge can be filed,” he said. “We cannot do that without this voting process.”
Worker sentiment in Facebook posts overwhelmingly criticized the company for using the signing bonus to sway workers who have been getting $275 a week in strike benefits.
“Sign-on bonus is like a carrot dangling in front of a steer led to slaughter, $2,000 … really chicken feed after taxes, maybe $1,100,” read one post.
