EVANSVILLE, Ind. (Dec. 5, 2014) — Commercial vehicle components supplier Accuride Corp. has locked in a new four-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW).
The agreement is with UAW Local 718, which represents 291 hourly associates in the Accuride plant in Rockford, Ill., that produces its Gunite-brand brake drums, hubs and other wheel-end components for the North American commercial vehicle industry.
Accuride President and CEO Rick Dauch praised the new agreement, saying the company “greatly appreciates our Rockford associates' commitment to creating an industry-leading, globally competitive facility. This shared achievement underscores the talent and dedication of our Rockford team and follows Accuride's three-year, $61 million investment in new production equipment and process upgrades that is enabling them to achieve world-class quality and operating performance.
“This new agreement ensures that customers can rely on the dependable supply of world-class, made-in-the-USA products from Gunite.”
According to an Accuride press statement, the parties had entered into their prior CBA in November 2010. The new agreement is retroactive to Nov. 18, 2014, and will remain effective through March 25, 2019.
The pact follows the following of Accuride's recently negotiated and competitive long-term agreements:
• March 2013 with the Canadian Auto Workers at the company's London, Ontario, steel wheel plant;
• November 2013 with the U.S. Steelworkers union at Accuride's Brillion Iron Works facility in Brillion, Wisc.; and
• May 2014 with the UAW at the company's Erie Operations aluminum wheel plant in Erie, Pa.
Accuride said that together these CBAs provide it “with labor stability at its U.S. and Canadian union-represented operations through March 2018 and into early 2019.
“The new agreements also ensure that Accuride has the operational flexibility to be competitive as it pursues profitable growth in the cyclical core markets it serves.”
Evansville-based Accuride supplies components to the North American commercial vehicle industry that include commercial vehicle wheels; wheel-end components and assemblies; and specialty cast-iron components for a range of agricultural, construction and mining, and oil and gas equipment applications. The company's products are marketed under brand names including Accuride, Accuride Wheel End Solutions, Gunite, and Brillion.
More information about the company is available on its website.
