WARRENVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- Navistar International Corp. announced late Sunday that members of the United Auto Workers agreed to a five-year labor agreement with International Truck and Engine Corp., its main subsidiary.þþThe deal involves 7,100 workers for International, which operates plants in Springfield, Ohio; Melrose Park, Ill.; and Indianapolis. It also operates parts distribution centers in Atlanta, Dallas and Baltimore, and a truck technical center in Fort Wayne, Ind.þþ``We're happy we've got a contract. We're happy it's for five years and now we'll move forward,'' Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said.þþThe deal was ratified by 54 percent of voting UAW members, the company said.þþNavistar said in a written statement the deal will enable the maker of trucks, school buses and diesel engines to become more competitive. It said the new contract also will provide overtime flexibility, shared health care costs, a competitive new-hire package and reduced costs associated with layoffs.þþ``The resultant agreement addresses the needs of our employees and provides our business with a competitive labor package that will help the company be profitable over the business cycle,'' Dan C. Ustian, Navistar president and chief operating officer, said in the statement.þþThe company said the new agreement will give employees bonuses of 3 percent of their earnings in the first, second and fourth years of the contract, to be paid in a lump sum each of those years. In addition, the base wage rate of $17.05 an hour for current employees will be increased by 3 percent in the third and fifth years of the contract, the first such increase since 1990, officials said.þþ``It's about the best we can get,'' said Tim Marshall, president of UAW Local 658 in Springfield. ``We've just got to go with what we've got at this time.''þþThe contract also contains an increase in pension benefits for employees with more than 28 years of service who opt to retire after Jan. 1, 2004.þþNegotiations had been hindered by a two-year industry slump that prompted Navistar to sharply reduce operations in Springfield, its main truck-making base. It also said this month it was closing a heavy truck assembly plant in Chatham, Ontario, involving the loss of 2,200 jobs.þþThe company halted production of medium-duty commercial trucks at its Ohio assembly plant last week, idling 900 workers. International spokesman Kyle Rose said Friday the assembly line will remain idle at least through next week.þþA body plant in Springfield that makes cabs for heavy-duty trucks and hoods for school buses will cease production by Thursday as scheduled as part of Navistar's five-year plan to focus plant operations there on medium trucks.þþThe company lost $23 million in 2001 and $76 million in the first nine months of its 2002 fiscal year.þþ
Source: NY Times
