Hourly Nissan employees will be getting a raise later this year for the first time since 2006. The news comes in the midst of a UAW organizing drive at the two nonunion Nissan assembly plants.
Nissan said Friday that hourly workers will get an increase of 55 cents an hour for production technicians, 65 cents for maintenance technicians, and $1.05 an hour for lead technicians starting in October 2013.
The company also said “recognition payments” of an unspecified amount will be made to hourly employees staring in June.
Currently, the average wage for a production technician is $26.47 an hour and the average wage for a maintenance technician is $30.49 an hour.
Nissan withheld pay increased starting in 2006 due to the faltering economy and dwindling vehicle sales. And like other companies, Nissan was forced to scale back production and reduce its workforce. However, since the summer of 2011, Nissan has added more than 5,000 jobs in its U.S. plants and increased production which necessitated a third work shift.
