Ford Workers Narrowly Ratify UAW-Ford Deal, a few Workers Feel Better Deal

The United Auto Workers approved significant contract adjustments at Ford and General Motors on Friday after months of tense negotiations.

The contract was ratified by 55.4% of union members earlier this month, but 59.5% of skilled trade workers voted against the agreement because of concerns over the seniority rights and classifications. The UAW-GM Council met to discuss these changes and concluded that the common skilled trades issues were addressed and recommended that the changes be presented to the IEB (International Executive Board) with the council’s full and unanimous support.

Union leaders held a press conference earlier this week to push for the Ford agreement when they feared workers would reject it. a few workers said the union didn’t push hard enough to win back things they lost in previous agreements, including annual wage increases.

“This agreement provides a good foundation for Ford Motor Company, our employees and our communities as we work together to create an even stronger business in the years ahead”, the company said in a statement.

Jimmy Settles, UAW Vice President who was one of the leading negotiators in the Ford agreement said, “There is no higher authority than the membership”.

John Fleming, the labor chief at Ford, told the Chicago Sun-Times that they are pleased with the vote to ratify the agreement. Fortunately for the company and union, the contract passed by a slim margin.

That model, Ford’s best-seller and biggest moneymaker, is a key reason the company’s North American pretax operating income nearly doubled to a record $2.7 billion in the third quarter. “We have power over the companies that you don’t always have”. Labour costs are expected to grow with improved health care and other benefits including an additional holiday and legal assistance. “They will be able to replace a lot of workers at a lower pay rate”.

The economic provisions in the GM contract are virtually identical to the union’s contract with Ford.

As older workers making US$28 an hour or more retire, GM will be able to hire replacements at US$17 an hour.

The contract also phases out a two-tier pay system that had prevailed at Ford since 2007. The Detroit-based automaker can also use more temps, who make less money.

Final results showed that members voted to ratify by a 51.4% majority after a last-minute push by union leaders put the contract over the top at the company’s giant Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Mich. General Motors UAW’s employees will start working under the ratified contract on Monday.