LAFAYETTE, IN — The Local 2317 chapter of the United Auto Workers voted 89% in favor of a strike late Thursday, May 21, just before the workers’ contract expires Friday.
Local 2317 represents employees of Fairfield Manufacturing, a gear production company based in Lafayette that was acquired by Allison Off-Highway in January for $2.7 billion.
Allison has been profitable over the past decade — to the tune of $7.7 billion, the UAW said in a news release. And union officials say that instead of distributing some of those profits to their employees, they have spent more than half of that money on stock buybacks and dividends for shareholders.
In the 2026’s first fiscal quarter alone, Allison made $1.9 billion through its off-highway arm, said international union representative Earl Fuller.
“Their CEO compensation over three years approaches $30 million,” Fuller said. “Their top executives over three years, $50 million. The company has plenty of money to compensate them. The people that create their wealth through labor are not being compensated. And we’re not asking for the people to become wealthy; we’re asking for a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.”
The union also requests lower health-care deductibles, a new cost of living allowance and a matching 401K program.
“Allison is aware of statements made by the UAW Local 2317 in relation to our ongoing contract negotiations,” the company said in a texted statement. “We continue to engage constructively with our union partners and look forward to successfully concluding our negotiations. Further update will be provided at the appropriate time.”
Fairfield was previously owned by the automotive industrial company Dana, under whose contract the company is currently working. But negotiations for a new contract began almost immediately after Allison bought Fairfield.
Union committee members say they have committed to not extending their contract after Friday, opting to work without contract if negotiations spill into next week. While without contract, Fairfield workers can choose to strike at any moment without giving 24 hours’ notice — which they would have to do if under extended contract.
Fuller maintains that with the increase in profits and inflation, the wages of the workers on the shop floors have not been adjusted adequately for some time and now lag significantly behind similar industrial pay across the Lafayette area.
“Now they’ve doubled prices on homes, they’ve tripled prices on cars,” Fuller said. “Our wages have gone up maybe 14%. At Allison back in the day, their CEO made maybe 15 times the lowest paid in the company. They’re around 500 times above (now) … (Wages) are not commensurate with what the people, the members here provide in skill and their labor. Their wages have been left behind, and in some cases, they’re getting paid a third less than equivalent facilities in the Lafayette area. … We’re asking that they get an economic compact that was a cornerstone in our industry for 50 years.”
In an attempt to bolster wages in other ways, UAW 2317 President Mark Roudebush and the negotiating committee are also lobbying for a cost-of-living allowance to be added to the contract. COLA is a percentage addition rolled into hourly wages that is calculated using averages data from the current and previous fiscal quarters of the federal Consumer Price Index.
“We have proposed it,” Roudebush said. “The company hasn’t countered, or just said they’re not interested at this point.”
But perhaps the largest single ask for affordable health care. With a significant jump in yearly deductibles and lack of medical location options for treatment, Roudebush and the 2317 say driving down the cost of health care is a critical component to a new contract with Allison.
“A lot of the big hitters on our health care is the (Health Savings Account), the very high deductible and a lot of out-of-pocket expenses,” Roudebush said. “Prior to Dana, we had a $3,000 deductible, and once we hit that $3,000, we didn’t pay nothing for the rest of the year. Now it’s a $10,000 deductible, and then (payments) are 80-20. I mean, yeah, a significant increase.”
With premiums that high, some employees have turned to joining a spouse’s insurance plan.
“I’m one of the lucky people, I’m not on our insurance,” UAW Recording Secretary Carl Johnson said. “My wife, I’m on hers. Makes a world of difference. These guys, the only thing they can do is go to the clinic, and the only prescriptions that they get are the ones that they can get at the clinic, because they get a discount. So, you’ve got guys over there that need some medication, and they’re going to get manufactured coupons. Almost everybody does it, because you cannot afford it.”
Emphasis about bargaining for an equitable agreement permeated the conversation all afternoon Thursday during an information session where Roudebush and Fuller described how the bargaining committee would not be requesting a contract extension and how integral a strong strike vote was to place pressure on further negotiations.
“(The disparity) is staggering,” Fuller said. “People can no longer live. You have folks that come to the plant and give them 60, 70 hours a week of hard labor, just toil, and don’t receive a proper compensation for their contribution to the bottom line of this company.”
Roudebush believes their proposal is fair and that a strike seems more and more likely.
“It sends a message to the company,” Roudebush said. “Just for the quality life of our membership, I would say all of these things have to happen.”
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lower wages, higher deductibles prompt local UAW 2317 to vote to strike
Reporting by Elijah Greene, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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