GASTONIA (dpa-AFX) - The US union UAW has secured significant pay increases for workers at commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck in North Carolina. The agreement provides for an income increase of 25 percent over four years, said UAW head Shawn Fain on Friday (local time). The UAW had achieved increases of this magnitude last year at the US auto giants General Motors, Ford and Stellantis after weeks of strike action.

A strike at Daimler Truck in North Carolina was due to begin on Saturday without the deal. The German company builds Freightliner trucks in the state as well as the well-known yellow Thomas Built school buses, among other things. Union members still have to vote on the agreement, which provides for a 16 percent increase in the first year. More job security and profit-sharing have also been agreed, said Fain.

For the UAW, it is a further success in the US southern states, where the union had previously been weak. Last week, workers at Volkswagen's US plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, decided to unionize with the UAW./so/DP/he