Ford workers ratify new union contract

Today the UAW-GM Council and the worldwide Union, UAW’s global Executive Board (IEB) met to discuss the ratification results for the tentative National Agreement recently negotiated with General Motors LLC.The union’s constitution requires passage by both production and skilled-trades workers for ratification, but allows the global Executive Board to override a no vote.

John Fleming, Ford’s executive vice president for worldwide manufacturing and labour issues, said in a statement: “This arrangement gives an excellent basis for Ford Motor Company, our workers as well as our communities as we work collectively to create an even more powerful company in the years ahead”. “UAW-Ford members have delivered job security and strong economic gains for their families and communities”.

On Wednesday, UAW leaders said that with three-fourths of the vote counted, 52 percent of workers were against the new pact.

A version of this article appears in print on November 22, 2015 of The Himalayan Times. The final vote was approval by a 51.4 percent majority. The contract covers 52,700 workers at 63 U.S. facilities.

GM said the agreement is good for workers and for its business. The rise of labor costs at Fiat Chrysler was the most among the Detroit Three automakers, and narrowed the cost advantage the company still maintains over GM and Ford, the study found. Ford’s UAW members will continue voting whether to ratify a proposed four-year contract until Friday evening. GM’s per hour labor are up US$5 and Ford’s rose US$3.

The ratification of the deal with Ford was announced later last night.

Several Louisville area Ford employees who voted against ratifying the contract on Tuesday said they wish the parties would have been forced back to bargaining to restore a few of the wages and benefits lost in prior contacts, but they’ll accept the outcome.

Meanwhile, Ford’s new four-year contract was still being voted on by UAW members on Friday, with the prospects for passage bleak.

GM joins Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in striking a new four-year nationwide agreement with the UAW. Ford will make a $1,500-per-worker profit-sharing payment early, for a total of $10,000 paid immediately to workers.

The UAW said its leadership ratified the deal after GM and union negotiators worked through objections of the skilled trades workers, which included “core trades classifications and seniority rights”. Veteran workers went nearly a decade without raises, while new hires started on “second tier” wages that were half what senior staff earned.

The delay has led to a few tension between production and skilled trades workers, with a few production workers upset because they wanted their $8,000 ratification bonuses sooner.