Navistar, local UAW union reach tentative agreement
The United Auto Workers Springfield local has come to a tentative agreement with Navistar, but payouts still aren’t expected to come today.
Tuesday night after a Springfield News Sun article regarding ongoing negotiations was published , the UAW national spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the Springfield Local 402 had come to a tentative agreement with Navistar. The Navistar union workers in Springfield will vote Saturday on whether to ratify.
The union has said results of the vote won’t be available until Sunday. Springfield Local UAW 402 president Chris Blizard has declined to comment until more information is available.
The contract negotiations have been the center of an unusual dispute over the last several months. Every other UAW local had ratified both their local and national contracts in December. Springfield only ratified the national deal at that time.
That six-year national agreement includes several lump sum payouts that UAW workers at all Navistar locations expect to come today. Since 83 percent of members had approved the main contract, Rothenberg said the national contract has been binding since the vote in December.
“The UAW expects Navistar to honor all local and national agreements covering all six locations,” Rothenberg said.
But Navistar has said all parts of all contracts must be ratified before any changes will take effect. UAW members will not receive payouts today, even now that the local contract is nearing its close, said Navistar spokeswoman Lyndi McMillen.
“Back in December when we were originally going to ratify the contracts, it was put in there that if the contract was ratified that day in December, we would pay out no later than Jan. 17,” McMillen said Tuesday. Wednesday she said the comment still stood.
The truck manufacturer is operating under an extended version of its former agreement, which expired in October, McMillian said. Once the local contract is ratified and all agreements go into effect, a new date will be set for the payouts.
Highlights of the new six-year deal include a $2,000 signing bonus, a $1,000 profit-sharing payout, and a 4-percent lump sum payment for workers this year and 3-percent lump sum payments in 2020 and 2022, according to information from the UAW.
The new main contract also includes pension plan improvements, the elimination of tiered wages and language to keep the contract intact in case the company is sold or merged.
The UAW represents the majority of Navistar’s local workers. There are about 2,000 workers in the facility now and thousands of retirees living in the area.
The national agreement covers Navistar Local 6 and 2293 in Melrose Park; Ill., Local 472 in Atlanta; Local 119 in Dallas; Local 1872 in York, Pa., and Local 402 and 658 in Springfield. Local 658 is a clerical unit. Contact this reporter at 937-8155111 or email holly.shively@coxinc.com.