LOWER SWATARA TOWNSHIP, DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. - Nearly 150 Mack Trucks employees are striking in Dauphin County. They're joining 3,600 United Automobile Workers in Maryland and Florida. As negotiations continue between the union and Mack Trucks, employees are fighting for fair pay, benefits and job protections.
“People are going by and they’re blowing their horns," said Mack Trucks employee Dana Hinkle. “The people who do and supporting us.. it’s nice it makes you feel good.”
Hinkle has been a Mack Trucks Remanufacturing employee in Dauphin County for 20 years. Monday, he and 143 employees represented by UAW continued their strike.
“They try and take some stuff and change stuff," said Hinkle. "And sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.”
Fighting for what you believe in is exactly what Hinkle and others are doing. They do not believe currents offers offer them fair pay, benefits and job protections.
“You want to provide for your family. You want to show up to work everyday and do your job," said Hinkle. "Get paid for what you do and make sure if your family gets sick you have benefits for them.”
Mack Trucks President Martin Weissburg issued this statement regarding the strike.
We are surprised and disappointed that the UAW decided to strike, rather than to allow our employees to keep building trucks and engines while the parties continued to negotiate. The positive working relationship between local UAW leadership and management at our facilities was clearly in evidence throughout the negotiations, and progress was being made.
Mack Trucks is part of the only heavy-truck manufacturing group that assembles all of its trucks and engines for the North American market here in the United States, and continues to compete against products built in lower-cost countries. We have no plans to close any U.S. manufacturing; on the contrary, we’ve invested more than $400 million in our plants and logistics network over the last ten years, and since 2015 have insourced work that has created more than 500 jobs in our U.S. factories. We have significant new investments in both facilities and products on the way.
We are committed to the collective bargaining process, and remain confident that we will be able to arrive at an agreement that provides a competitive wage and benefit package for our employees and families, and helps to ensure the company’s competitiveness.
Union workers tell FOX43 they will continue to strike until they believe a fair deal has been reached.
