Oshkosh Corp. has more than enough capacity tobuild U.S. Postal Service's next generation postal delivery vehiclein Wisconsin, UAW leaders told USPS Board of Governors Tuesday.
The union has been trying to wrestle back the work of building up to 165,000 new mail delivery trucks since June, when the company said its Oshkosh Defense division would build the next-generation delivery vehicle, or NGDV,in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Bob Lynk, president of the United Auto Workers Local 578, and Tim Jacobson, a chief steward who's worked at Oshkosh Defense for 12 years, urged USPS during a meeting on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. to push the company to make the trucks in Oshkosh.
The new factoryis expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs, which union leaders said are needed to preserve existing jobs in Oshkosh and to create new ones.
“The best option is to continue building these in Oshkosh,” Jacobson told the board. “We have the ability to scale up.”
UAW Local 578 has about 1,600 current members who commute to work from a 14-county area that stretches from Oshkoshto Marinette, Door and Waukesha counties.
Jacobson saidhe was hired in 2009 as part of a wave of new employees needed to ramp up production of mine-resistant all-terrain vehicles, called M-ATVs. At that time Local 578had about 3,100 members.
As military vehicle contracts came and went, the company laid off hundreds of workers to align withproduction demands. Oshkosh Corp. also leased and bought additional manufacturing and office space throughout Oshkosh for M-ATV production, leaving it with adequate space for NGDV work, Lynk said.
He said the union has nothing against South Carolina or other states'workers, but they want the union workforce in Oshkosh to build the NGDV since their quality workhelped the company win the contract.
"Our fight is to bring it home to where we feel it belongs. Our reputation is what this was awarded on," Lynk said. "We need to build backunion, especially here in Oshkosh and the surrounding area."
In a statementWednesday morning, Oshkosh Defense President John Bryantsaid NGDV production would require a minimum of 825,000 square feet of space, more than its largest Oshkosh facility.
"Our existing facilities in Oshkosh are fully occupied and set up to execute Defense programs," Bryant said.
The company last week said it selected Spartanburg for NGDVproduction after evaluating multiple sites in several states, including Wisconsin. The company said it looked at the requirements for production and determined that South Carolina "gives us the best ability to meet the needs of the USPS." The company also noted that while production will occur out of state, the vehicle project's technical center is based in Oshkosh and staffed by more than 100 employees.
UAW leaders also argue that a new factory will cost more to build outversus modifying an existing factoryOshkosh Defense has already outfitted to produce military andairport rescue vehicles. They also said building a new plant in South Carolina would produce more greenhouse gas emissions than using existing factories would.
"You don't have to build a new facility that will create pollution and environmental harm," Lynk said."There are two empty and existing facilities to build these vehicles with experienced,skilledworkers of the United Auto Workers Local 578."
UAW leaders' environmental focus parallels recent calls fromthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and White House Council on Environmental Quality for USPS toreassess the contract's environmental impacts.
RELATED:Citing 'serious deficiencies' in environmental assessments, EPA urges USPS to reassess Oshkosh Corp. delivery vehicle contract
The contract, awarded in February 2021, calls for Oshkosh to produce between 50,000 and 165,000 next-generation delivery vehicles in both battery-electric and internal combustion versions. The contract could be worth up to $11.3 billion.
Among the issues pointed out in a letter written by EPA Associate Administrator Vicki Arroyo is that the contract initially calls foronly 10% of USPS'new trucks to be battery powered, which Arroyo called "a critical lost opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of one of the largest government fleets in the world."
Arroyo said the new trucks would also do little to improve the USPS fleet's fuel efficiency, resulting in a 0.4% increase in fleet fuel efficiency and reducingemissions by just 21.7% over 10 years.
In a Feb. 6 statement, Postmaster General and USPS CEO Louis DeJoy said the service is committed to electrifying its delivery fleet. He said initial plans topurchase 5,000 battery-electric vehicles is ambitious and that USPS has recently discussed electrifying 70% of its fleet over the next decade.
But he said the Postal Servicewould needmore moneyto takeOshkosh Corp. up on its recent assurance that it coulddramatically increase the mix of zero-emission battery vehiclesif USPS desires.
"Absent such funding, we must make fiscally responsible decisions that result in the needed introduction of safer and environmentally cleaner vehicles for the men and women who deliver America’s mail," DeJoy said in the media release.
In response to EPA and CEQ concerns, the Postal Service media release "believes it has fully satisfied requirements" to consider environmental impacts and alternatives laid out in the National Environmental Policy Act. Still, ithas made key staff available tofederal agencies to help better determine what more is needed to satisfy environmental reviews. It is also analyzing electric grid capacities in the nation to determine where there's existing capacity and where USPS would need to invest in bulk charging operations.
"Given our large fiscal deficits and significant financial challenges, Congress is well aware of the additional resources that would be required if Congress would prefer the Postal Service to accelerate the electrification of our delivery vehicle fleet as a matter of public policy," DeJoy said in the media release.
While federal agencies continue their reviews, Lynk and Jacobson are focused on building community support in the Oshkosh area. They expect to meet with local and state officials in the weeks ahead of a Feb. 26 rally in Oshkosh.
Lynk said it feels like the union's fight is gaining traction. He said the public is aware the company won the contract in early 2021, but is not as broadly aware that it plans to build the trucks in South Carolina. Local 578 has made yard signs to help raise that awareness.
"I believe there is movement going on. Especially in this last week, we're gaining ground," Lynk said.
Jacobson said workers felt like the rug was pulled out from under them when the company announced it would not build the trucks in Oshkosh. It tooka lot of excitement out of winning the contract to produce a vehicle most Americans will see in their neighborhood every day and which Car and Driver noted have already beenspotted on the street in Californialast month.
He said Oshkosh Corp. remains a great place to work" and it's partly because the economic impact stays in the region.
"That money gets spent in 14 counties, in restaurants or getting your dog groomed," Jacobson said. "You're spending money at other peoples' small businesses. It's good for everybody, not just the 1,600 members we have."
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
