PORTLAND — Here’s some great news to start 2018 with: the opportunity for a union job with benefits. Western Star truck plant general manager Mike Foley announced Dec. 19 that Daimler Trucks North America plans to increase Western Star truck production from its current level of 20 trucks a day to 27 trucks per day starting in March 2018.
That means the Portland truck plant will be able to bring back laid-off union members who are on seniority-based recall lists, and could hire about 100 new members. All four unions at the plant will likely be able to welcome new members: Machinists Lodge 1005, Teamsters Local 305, Sign Painters & Paint Makers Local 1094, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 49.
Those hired as production assembly workers, the most common classification, would start at about $15 an hour and rise to $28.05 after five years. The jobs also come with medical, vacation and retirement benefits.
The plant, located in the Swan Island Industrial Park, produces heavy-duty Western Star brand trucks for use in mining, logging, oil field and construction, plus on-highway trucks and specialized vehicles.
More information about when the recalls and new hires will take place — and where to apply — is expected some time after workers return Jan. 2 from the annual plant shutdown. Job openings for Daimler Trucks North America are posted online at http://dtna.jobs.
