UAW Local 1832 tells the story of how Peterbilt employees negotiating in Nashville were locked out by management in June 2008.
The Peterbilt plant was moved out of Tennessee to the non-union Texas in 2009. Ostensibly, the reason given by Peterbilt was that they needed to wait until "market conditions improved."
But the union was told a different story from the story being told to shareholders...
The OEM has not produced trucks at the Madison location since it locked out all 313 hourly workers represented by UAW Local 1832 on June 30th of last year after the union declined to vote on a new contract offer submitted by Peterbilt, The Tennessean reported.
“Based on the company’s unwillingness to compromise, we had no choice but to withdraw our comprehensive proposal,” UAW Local 1832 said in a letter to their members on Sept. 1st. “It is very obvious that Paccar [Peterbilt’s parent] wants to scare you into accepting their insulting proposal; therefore we must remain in solidarity if we want to win this battle.”
A look at the website of Peterbilt's parent company, PACCAR Inc. (based in Bellevue, Washington), tells us that the company announced "improved revenues and net income" for the first quarter of 2010. But truck sales were relatively weak. So what did the corporation do? It cut US-based production.
Truck retail sales are still below replacement demand levels, resulting in the North American truck fleet age of nearly seven years. The truck industry is generating slightly better parts and service business due to the aging fleet and higher tonnage.
The story being told to shareholders at the beginning of 2009 was very different from the story that was told to Peterbilt workers in Nashville.
“PACCAR earned its fourth highest annual net income in its 103-year history in 2008 and has delivered a remarkable 70 consecutive years of net profit to its shareholders,” said Mark C. Pigott, chairman and chief executive officer. “PACCAR’s financial results reflect the benefits of the company’s quality products and services, geographic diversification, excellent aftermarket revenues and financial services income. I am very proud of our 18,000 employees who have delivered exceptional performance to our shareholders and customers, especially in today’s very difficult business conditions.”
It was just one week after PACCAR announced this "exceptional performance to our shareholders and customers" that the company axed its Nashville-area plant and moved operations to Denton, Texas. So what prompted the move to Denton?
PACCAR invested in state-of-the-art robotic cab paint facilities at its Kenworth plant in Chillicothe, Ohio, and its Peterbilt plant in Denton, Texas, to enhance product quality and increase productivity.
This same story is being told all over the country. It's easier to build a robot than to pay employees. Higher profits mean more money to invest in better robots.