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By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -Union workers at Volvo Group-owned Mack Trucks went on strike on Monday after overwhelmingly rejecting a proposed five-year contract, the United Auto Workers said, the latest tentative labor agreement in the U.S. to be voted down.
About 73% of the unit's 4,000 workers in Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland voted against the deal that included a 19% pay raise, said the UAW, which is in the midst of contract talks with Detroit's Big Three automakers. Ford Motor in those talks has offered a 23% wage hike.
The proposed Mack deal had also included a $3,500 ratification bonus, improved retirement benefits, additional vacation for some employees and a reduction in the time needed to get to top pay.
In online forums, some Mack workers complained the raise was too small to keep up with inflation.
“We don't see ourselves as disconnected from the struggle of the Big Three," said Will Lehman, a material technician who works at Mack's Lehigh Valley facility in Pennsylvania.
He added that he was displeased that the UAW endorsed a "phony" tentative agreement to be voted on. The cost of living had gone up more than the 19% Mack offer, Lehman said.
UAW President Shawn Fain, who had backed the Mack deal, said late on Sunday: "I'm inspired to see UAW members at Mack holding out for a better deal, and ready to stand up and walk off the job to win it."
Mack President Stephen Roy said the company was "surprised and disappointed" by the strike.
Mack "clearly demonstrated our commitment to good-faith bargaining by arriving at a tentative agreement that was endorsed by both the International UAW and the UAW Mack Truck Council," Roy added.
Mack, which was bought by Volvo in 2000, is one of North America's largest makers of medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks.
The UAW said it would contact Mack to set dates to resume bargaining.
"UAW members and workers across the economy are mobilizing to demand their fair share," the UAW said in a letter to Mack. "The union remains committed to exploring all options for reaching an agreement, but clearly we are not there yet."
US LABOR UNREST
Unions negotiating new contracts in the auto, shipping and healthcare industries have used labor actions to keep employers off-balance this year. Polls have shown most Americans broadly support the unions' demands.
In the last 12 months, freight rail workers and employees at shipping company FedEx have rejected tentative agreements between union negotiators and companies before eventually reaching deals.