Feb. 10--United Auto Workers members ratified a four-year labor agreement with Navistar International on Sunday that includes raises but keeps workers under a two-tier pay system.
"We value our partnership with the UAW," Bill Osborne, Navistar senior vice president of manufacturing and quality, said in a statement. "We found common ground on some difficult issues and we will continue in that spirit of cooperation as we move forward."
Jason Barlow, president of UAW Local 402 in Springfield, Ohio, said workers will get a $1,000 signing bonus and receive a 3 percent lump-sum payment this year and in 2016. They also will receive 2 percent raises in 2015 and 2017.
The company kept its two-tier system, with entry-level employees making about two-thirds the pay of veteran workers. In Springfield, workers are hired at $15.68 per hour and receive raises every six months. Their pay is capped at about $20 per hour. Veteran workers make about $26 per hour.
"We believe it's a fair agreement," Barlow said.
Barlow said workers also would have to learn a new job, which would increase their pay by 20 cents per hour. Those who learn additional jobs could make up to 60 cents more per hour, in addition to contract raises.
The contract also cuts in half the percentage of temporary workers at the plant to 5 percent, he said. And it provides job security by guaranteeing that the plant will make at least 75 trucks per day. It now makes about 83 per day.
About 1,500 workers in Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas had been working under an extended contract since it expired in October. Navistar, the maker of trucks and engines, employs 13,000 workers.
acancino@tribune.com
Twitter @WriterAlejandra
