FREIGHTLINER RETURNS HOME
Freightliner’s all-electric eCascadia, soon to be manufactured by the union in Portland.
Daimler Trucks North America plans to hire 100 more unions by 1 July at its truck manufacturing plant in the Portland industrial park. To attract them, it is raising the starting wage to $19 an hour – $4 more than what is required under its contract with Machinists Local Lodge 1005. That’s not all: he’s also offering to pay new hires a $1,000 hiring bonus when they reach 90 days after starting work. And all current employees receiving less than the new starting wage will also get an increase to $19 an hour.
Daimler needs more workers because there is a growing demand for the heavy Western Star trucks the plant makes, including dump trucks and concrete mixers. But the plant is also investing in new capital equipment because Portland has been chosen as the site where two new lines of 100% battery-electric Freightliner-branded trucks will be assembled.
When the first eCascadia model rolls off the production line in late 2022, Portland will be a homecoming. Freightliner, born in Portland in 1947, was bought by Daimler-Benz in 1981. Daimler gradually moved production to the Carolinas and Mexico, and in 2007 the last Freightliner truck assembled in Portland rolled off the assembly line. Since then the plant in Portland produces trucks under Western Star brand. Western Star was a Canadian truck company that Daimler bought in 2000; Daimler closed the Western Star plant in British Columbia and moved production to Portland.
The ECascadia is a Class 8 heavy-duty truck, capable of 360 to 525 horsepower and weighing up to 82,000 pounds. It advertises a range of 250 miles and can be charged to 80% in 90 minutes. It will use a powertrain built in Detroit by members of United Auto Workers Local 163 at another Daimler subsidiary, Detroit Diesel.
Then, in 2023, Daimler expects the Portland plant to start producing the Freightliner eM-2, an electric-powered truck.
Daimler’s current contract with Machinists Lodge 1005 expires on 29 October 2021. In May, the company offered a one-year extension and started negotiations six months before the expiry date. Members rejected the offer with more than four opponents, so regular bidding is likely to start in September.
The current round of hiring will bring the total number of jobs at the truck plant to just under 1,000, the highest in years.
About the jobs: Daimler is hiring assemblers and loaders for $19 an hour. Workers get the maximum wage in five years. Currently it is $28.05 per hour for assemblers and $26.32 per hour for loaders.