Workers who make trucks and buses for Daimler Truck in North Carolina appeared poised to strike Friday as contract negotiations remained stalled.
A contract covering 7,000 Daimler employees represented by the United Automobile Workers will expire at the end of Friday. The German company has five factories in North Carolina, where it makes Freightliner and Western Star trucks, Thomas Built buses and various components.
A strike, which seemed likely unless a last-minute breakthrough was made, would open another front in the UAW’s campaign to expand its power in southern states where unions have long been weak.
The UAW won a significant victory this month when workers at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to be represented by the union. Workers at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama will vote on unionization in mid-May.
Workers at Daimler Truck, which spun off from Mercedes-Benz in 2021, have been represented by the UAW for several decades. The union has taken a more assertive stance after winning the biggest pay raises in decades for workers at Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis, the owner of Jeep, Chrysler and Ram, following strikes at all three companies last year.
A favorable contract for Daimler workers would add momentum to the UAW’s campaign to organize American auto factories, including companies like Toyota and Tesla.
In addition to wage increases and better benefits, Daimler Truck workers say they are looking for more job security after the company moved some of its production to Mexico.
Negotiations made some progress this week after Daimler agreed to a profit-sharing plan for workers, according to the union. But the two sides stayed apart on other issues, including wages, automatic cost-of-living increases and health benefits, the union said.
Workers will strike, the UAW said, “unless we reach the historic agreement we demand.”
Daimler said in a statement that it was in good faith negotiations “for a new contract that will benefit all parties and allow Daimler Truck North America to continue delivering the products that enable our customers to keep the world moving.”