Oshkosh Corp.'s union ratifies new 5-year contract

OSHKOSH - More than 3,000 union workers at Oshkosh Corporation have a new five-year deal.

Saturday, members of the United Auto Workers local 578 ratified the company's third contract offer.

Seventy-seven percent of those voting accepted the new deal.

This comes after international union representatives came in Wednesday to help with negotiations.

As voters walked out Saturday, it seemed the tables had finally turned with the majority of the members giving the contract a thumbs-up.

"Union stuck together, and I'm proud of my brothers and sisters on the bargaining committee," said union member Keith Hinz.

"The membership stood strong and you know, we go the best contract that we could probably get," explained union steward Chuck Hale.

Union leaders say they were able to overcome a major hurdle, by eliminating language to hire temporary workers.

And the fact that such a large majority accepted the agreement surprised even union leaders.

"I thought maybe 60% would have taken it, but 77% percent was pretty high," said union president Nick Nitschke. "It says people are ready to get back to work at Oshkosh Corp."

Officials say the contract also reduced mandatory overtime from 10 to eight Saturdays each year.

The five-year deal also includes an overall 8.5% wage increase, but also ups health care contributions to $250 a month for families by year five.

That's something some voters still feel is not fair.

"I just think that the number of contracts we have, and the number of years some of us have been there, and this is how they want to treat us? I don't like it," said union member Chris Johnson.

But despite some concerns, the deal is done, something both sides are grateful for.

"This contract really allows us to be able to be a very competitive force with finding military contracts," said Oshkosh Corp. Communications Vice President, John Daggett. "Again, we want to thank our employees for ratifying this contract, and again I think it is very good for us, for the community and the employees and their families."

"You're always going to have hard feelings out there that you are going to have a hard time getting it out of your system, but Oshkosh Truck says they're willing to work with this committee, and hopefully they live up to their word," Nitschke said.