Feb. 26, OSHKOSH – Labor and community supporters joined in solidarity with UAW Local 578 members on Saturday for a rally to call on Oshkosh Corp. to build the next generation delivery vehicle for the U.S. Postal Service right here in Wisconsin. UAW Local 578 members have delivered for our nation, building high-quality vehicles for our military and others for over 80 years.
“Oshkosh Defense was built by union workers in Wisconsin, and it’s only right that the company invest in our communities,” said UAW Local 578 President Bob Lynk. “But right now, the company is turning its back on the families and workers that have fueled its growth. We can and should build the postal vehicle here in Wisconsin and create good-paying union jobs that our next generation needs. Oshkosh is more than ready to get to work; we have production facilities, our workers prepped the prototypes, and families and small businesses across 14 counties depend on these jobs. We’re going to keep fighting to restore jobs our community has lost.”
Speakers for Saturday’s rally in Oshkosh included, Bob Lynk, UAW Local 578 President; Tim Jacobson, UAW Local 578 Chief Steward; Ron McInroy, UAW Region 4 Director; Kelli Harrison, UAW Region 4 CAP Director; Stephanie Bloomingdale, Wisconsin AFL-CIO President; Joshua Fry, President of American Postal Workers Union 178; Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, State Assemblymember Gordon Hintz, State Assemblymember Lee Snodgrass, Alex Lasry, candidate for U.S. Senate; Tom Nelson, candidate for U.S. Senate and Steven Olikara, candidate for U.S. Senate.
“Make no mistake: it’s this long-standing partnership led by union workers that won Oshkosh Defense the opportunity to build the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle contract for USPS in the first place,” said Ron McInroy, Director of UAW Region 4, representing workers in 16 North-Central and Northwest states including Wisconsin. “When companies like Oshkosh Defense disinvest in union workers, they damage our economy at large and make it harder for middle class families to get ahead. That’s why Wisconsinites are coming together to demand good, union jobs and work that will support families, lift up local communities, while delivering for our environment and serving our country.”
“It’s little wonder when the US postal service needed the next generation of dependable trucks to deliver our mail, they came to you, brothers and sisters of the UAW Local 578,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. “They can trust the union men and women at Oshkosh to build the next generation vehicle right the first time. Skill and craftsmanship matter. That’s what people like Ron Johnson don’t understand. What Senator Johnson doesn’t get is that who makes the product determines the quality of what comes off the line. There’s a reason Wisconsin is known worldwide for high-quality manufacturing and that reason is our workers.”
“Instead of bringing union jobs home, Ron Johnson says it’s more important to spend those federal dollars efficiently,” continued Bloomingdale, “Well Senator, why don’t you ask a Wisconsin solider whose safety depends on the tactical vehicle made by the union men and women here about efficiency? Would you want your son or daughter’s life to depend on equipment built by the lowest builder? As a mother, I damn well sure know I wouldn’t. As a taxpayer, I want the same quality of vehicle that will deliver my mail for the years to come. That’s real efficiency.”
The United States Postal Service (USPS) awarded Oshkosh Defense a multibillion-dollar contract to build up to 165,000 “next generation delivery vehicles” (NGDVs) over ten-years. Soon after, UAW Local 578 workers in Oshkosh started creating prototype parts and tools, preparing to build the vehicles in Oshkosh and celebrating the new work. But instead of doing the work in Oshkosh, the company announced the NGDV contract would be produced in a new facility in another state.
Alarmed by the company’s falling investments in Oshkosh, UAW Local 578 leaders, together with the Wisconsin labor movement, are raising our voices to demand Oshkosh Defense deliver more good-paying, union jobs: circulating a petition signed by the majority of the workforce, testifying to the USPS Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., penning local op-eds, and meeting with Wisconsin elected leaders.
Senator Tammy Baldwin has stood with workers to push the company to bring the contract home, saying, “To me, it’s simple – I want Oshkosh Defense to manufacture trucks in Oshkosh with Wisconsin workers.” Sen. Baldwin and Senator Gary Peters of Michigan sent a letter to Oshkosh Defense in November questioning the manufacturing plans.
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