UPDATE: UAW Local 2069 votes resounding ‘no’ in contract vote

Volvo Trucks North America today announced that employees represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) rejected a new five-year labor agreement covering approximately 2,900 members of UAW Local #2069 at the New River Valley truck assembly operations in Dublin, Virginia.

The company has been informed that UAW-represented employees will report to work on May 17.

“We look forward to working with the UAW to resolve whatever the outstanding issues are, and we remain confident that we will be able to reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” said NRV Vice President and General Manager Franky Marchand.

Negotiations began on February 8, 2021, and the negotiating teams reached a tentative agreement on April 30, 2021.

The NRV plant employs more than 3,300 people, about 2,900 of whom are UAW members.  The plant is in the midst of a $400 million investment for advanced technology upgrades, site expansion and preparation for future products, including the innovative Volvo VNR Electric truck. The plant has added 1,100 jobs since the last union agreement was implemented in 2016, and is on track to have a net increase of approximately 600 positions in 2021.

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Original Report:

Members of the United Auto Workers Local 2069 voted resoundingly Sunday to reject the tentative agreement between the union and Volvo Trucks North America.

The contract vote results were:

Common Language, NO (91 percent); Hourly Language, NO (91 percent) and Salary Language, NO (83 percent).

A contract ratification meeting was held with union members assembling Sunday at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium at Pulaski County High School from 1-3 p.m.  Voting on the contract proposal was held Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the UAW Union Hall.

Sources say now union negotiators in the coming day will put together a new contract proposal and present it to the company.

Work will continue at the plant while new negotiations progress.

The union and the company reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract following a short      two-week strike that ended April 30.  Production at the plan resumed Monday, May 3.

Some 2,900 employees work at the New River Valley truck assembly operations in Dublin.