WARRENVILLE, IL — International Truck and Engine Corp. announced today that the United Auto Workers union (UAW) has elected to strike the company. The UAW represents approximately 3,700 employees at nine company facilities that are covered by multi-site contracts that expired on Oct. 1.
In response, International said it has activated a series of production continuation measures designed to provide uninterrupted delivery of products and services to its customers. “We expect our customers to continue to receive their orders in a timely manner,” said Jeff Bowen, vice president of human resources at International.
According to International, for more than two years, the company and union have engaged in various periods of “early” negotiations attempting to reach agreement on changes that would improve the competitiveness of International’s UAW-represented facilities. In June 2006, the company and UAW leadership reached a tentative agreement on new contracts, but 84 percent of the voting UAW membership rejected it.
Negotiations began again on Aug. 27, and have continued past the expiration of the labor agreements until today when the UAW chose to strike.
The UAW represents approximately 3,700 employees at nine International Truck and Engine facilities in Indianapolis, IN, (engine assembly and foundry), Melrose Park, IL, (engine assembly and engine engineering), Springfield, OH (truck assembly), Atlanta, York, PA, and Dallas (parts distribution centers) and Fort Wayne, IN, (truck engineering). Total worldwide employment at the company is 16,000.
