Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030416
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
United Auto Workers Local 2069 members will meet at 2 p.m. today to vote on the proposed contract. "No one will see the package until tomorrow," said Bob Goad, Local 2069 vice president.
Union members were not told details of the agreement, but several seemed cautious and said they were ready to continue the strike if necessary.
"I'll be right here until there's a contract ratified. That I can live with," said 14-year Volvo employee Barry Smith as he waved a picket sign at a passing car.
"You don't get your hopes up too big," said Eddy Phillips, also a longtime Volvo worker. "We have to know what they're talking about."
The union previously has said that the company failed to meet health-benefit and other economic demands. Negotiations apparently resumed Tuesday morning and lasted just a few hours before the bargaining teams reached an agreement.
Local union President Joe Parah and plant spokesman Bill Brubaker could not be reached for comment.
Volvo spokesman Rudolph Spik, reading a statement from corporate headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., said both sides "expressed satisfaction with the outcome."
It is unlikely the workers would return to their jobs as soon as Thursday, however, Spik said. Once accepted by the rank and file, the agreement must be approved by Volvo's board of directors and the UAW's executive board.
The joint statement contained comments from Frank Adams, who took over as plant manager March 18, and Don Ratcliff, chairman of the union's bargaining committee. "Once the agreement has been signed, we are prepared to begin bringing employees back to resume operations," Adams said.
The Dublin plant's assembly line has been idle since the strike began, and Volvo had sent 225 truck orders to out-of-state factories.
Spik said the tentative agreement was between the company and the local union. It was unclear whether a representative from the UAW International attended the meeting.
Karl Mantyla, spokesman for the UAW International in Detroit, declined to comment.
The international union has indicated in the past that any settlement must be a three-way agreement among the international, Local 2069 and the company.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on April 4, 1991.
Because of a reporter's error, the name of worker Eddie Phillips was misspelled in a story Wednesday about the strike at Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. in Pulaski ounty.
Memo: CORRECTION