Navistar's Employees Represented by UAW Approve Four-Year Labor Agreement

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-31/navistar-s-employees-represented-by-uaw-approve-four-year-labor-agreement.html

By Jeff Kearns - Oct 31, 2010 11:37 AM CT

Navistar International Corp. employees represented by the United Auto Workers union approved a four-year contract, the maker of blast-resistant trucks for the U.S. military said.

The agreement replaces a labor contract that expired Oct. 1, the Warrenville, Illinois-based company said in a statement yesterday. The union represents 2,000 of the company’s workers at plants in Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Indiana.

The contract gives the company the ability to change the type of vehicles that it produces at its plants instead of having dedicated facilities. It also allows a variable wage scale for new employees instead of a standard rate for all hires and shifts some of the company’s health-care costs to employees.

“It will improve the operating structure and flexibility at our UAW-represented facilities to better compete in today’s market,” Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ustian said in the statement.

Christine Moroski, a spokeswoman for the UAW, and Roy Wiley, a spokesman for Navistar, didn’t immediately return calls seeking specifics on the contract.

FULL story at link.