Nearly 7,000 UAW Members at Daimler Truck Vote to Authorize Strike, If Necessary

On Friday, March 8th, 7,000 Daimler Truck North America workers voted by a resounding 96% to authorize a strike if necessary. The contract covers 7,000 parts and assembly workers in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, and expires on April 26th.

The workers who build Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks, and Thomas Built Buses are facing declining real wages and job security against a backdrop of rising cost of living and massive profits and shareholder payouts by Daimler Truck.

In a video released by the UAW last week, Daimler workers spoke out on the declining standards at the company that have led to their willingness to stand up and fight for better wages, benefits, and job security.

Daimler amassed nearly $6 billion in 2023. In addition, the company plans to spend billions of dollars on stock buybacks over the next two years while lavishing millions of dollars on its shareholders. In a recent interview, Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum boasted that the company’s profits are “red hot” and claimed that any “leftover money certainly belongs” to the company’s stockholders. Daum received over $7.5 million in total compensation last year alone.

Daimler workers are the latest UAW members standing up to corporate greed. Thousands of UAW members have won record contracts in the last year, including autoworkers at the Big Three automakers, and Allison Transmission workers in Indianapolis, IN.