Workers ratify deal at Sterling Trucks

CANADA: The Canadian Auto Workers union reports that members at Sterling Trucks (Freightliner), a division of DaimlerChrysler, have ratified by 91 per cent the tentative agreement reached on March 7 between the CAW and the company, ending a two-week strike of 1,100 workers. The major issue which led to the strike was the company's demand to impose escalated costs for health care coverage in the second and third year of the agreement. The company has dropped this demand and agreed to a 2.5 per cent wage increase in the first year, 2.7 per cent in the second, and 3 per cent in the third year. Improvements in time off the job, pensions and specific health care benefits are also part of the newly reached deal. Workers at the Sterling Trucks assembly plant, in St. Thomas, Ontario, joined the CAW in December 2002, and negotiations for this first contract had been underway since January. A spokesman for the union said that the settlement "not only ended the strike but these workers have built a solid union with their first contract and they understand these gains were made because of their solidarity and strong leadership."