DETROIT – UAW-represented employees at Volvo Trucks North America have ratified a new five-year labor agreement. The contract was approved by a majority of UAW Local 2069 members at Volvo Trucks’ New River Valley plant in Virginia. Voting took place March 27.

The new contract covers health care benefits for all active workers, provides a yearly lump sum for retirees, and includes wage and pension increases.

“This contract moves our members forward while protecting jobs and benefits in this competitive industry, and makes way for the return of 862 UAW Local 2069 members who will be recalled from layoff,” said UAW Vice President General Holiefield, who directs the union’s Heavy Truck Department.

“Our members negotiated a contract that gives them well-earned benefits for their work at Volvo, and addresses the company’s concerns about viability and future growth,” said Gary Casteel, director of UAW Region 8, which covers the Southeast including Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware and Franklin, Cumberland, Adams and York counties in Pennsylvania.

The contract will expire March 16, 2016.