Volvo Trucks, UAW agree on 5-year contract

Volvo Trucks North America employees represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) on March 27 ratified a new five-year agreement covering about 1,300 members of UAW Local No. 2069 at the New River Valley, Va., plant.

The new contract is effective March 17, 2011, and will expire on March 16, 2016.

“We are the only manufacturing group still building trucks for this market exclusively in the United States, and agreements like this one help us keep American manufacturing competitive,” said Denny Slagle, president and CEO of Volvo Trucks North America, in a written statement. “Working with the UAW, we’ve arrived at an agreement that increases Volvo Trucks’ long-term competitiveness in the North American market, while continuing to offer our employees a great quality of life.

“Volvo gained two points of market share in 2010,” Slagle added, “and the stability this agreement provides will help us continue that momentum as the market improves.”