Click for more details.
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our US operations,” said Ford CEO and President Jim Farley at 8:43 pm tonight in a Dearborn issued statement. The agreement is dependent on ratification by Ford’s UAW-represented employees. Consistent with the ratification process, the UAW will share details with its membership before they are disclosed in public. This will likely occur late Sunday.
AutoInformed thinks that Bill Ford’s appeal moved the then stalled negotiations in the right direction and away from inflammatory language and posturing. Ford workers will return to work while the agreement goes through the ratification process with the UAW National Ford Council convening in Detroit this weekend to review the agreement. (See AutoInformed: Bill Ford Asks UAW to Choose His View of the Right Path)
In a video address tonight by UAW President Shawn Fain and UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, the union leaders gave some details of the agreement, while outlining next steps in the ratification process.
“For months we’ve said that record profits mean record contracts. And UAW family, our Stand Up Strike has delivered. What started at three plants at midnight on September 15, has become a national movement,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We won things nobody thought possible. Since the strike began, Ford put 50% more on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country.”
“Our union has united in a way we haven’t seen in years. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, our members came together to tell the Big Three with one voice that record profits mean a record contract,” said UAW Vice President Chuck Browning. “Thanks to the power of our members on the picket line and the threat of more strikes to come, we have won the most lucrative agreement per member since Walter Reuther was president.”
The gains in the deal, as outlined by Fain and Browning, are valued at more than four times the gains from the 2019 contract, and provide more in base wage increases than Ford workers have received in the past 22 years. The agreement gets a 25% in base wage increases through April 2028, and will cumulatively raise the top wage by over 30% to more than $40 an hour, and raise the starting wage by 68%, to more than $28 an hour.
The lowest-paid workers at Ford will see a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement, with some workers receiving an immediate 85% increase immediately upon ratification.
The agreement reinstates major benefits lost during the Great Recession, including Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA) and a three-year Wage Progression, as well as killing divisive wage tiers in the union. It improves retirement for current retirees, those workers with pensions, and those who have 401(k) plans. It also includes a historic right to strike over plant closures, a first for the union.
“The Stand Up strike continues at Stellantis and GM, where members fight for a fair agreement that honors the historic contributions and sacrifices of America’s autoworkers,” the UAW said.
“Here’s the next phase in our Stand Up Strike. We are calling on all Ford strikers to go back to work while we vote on our tentative agreement. Like everything we’ve done in this Stand Up Strike, this is a strategic move to get the best deal possible. We’re going back to work at Ford to keep the pressure on Stellantis and GM; the last thing they want is for Ford to get back to full capacity while they mess around and lag behind,” said a very tired looking Browning.
“I want to be clear. We told Ford to pony up and they did,” said Fain. “We won things nobody thought possible. Since the strike began, Ford put 50% MORE on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country. But the decision isn’t up to us. Every UAW member at Ford will get a vote on this deal, and the majority rules. So we’ll go through our process, we’ll discuss and debate, and we’ll move forward together. As a united UAW, back in the fight to save the American dream.”
“I applaud the UAW and Ford for coming together after a hard fought, good faith negotiation and reaching a historic tentative agreement tonight. This tentative agreement provides a record raise to auto workers who have sacrificed so much to ensure our iconic Big Three companies can still lead the world in quality and innovation. Ultimately, the final word on this contract will be from the UAW members themselves in the days and weeks to come. I’ve always believed the middle class built America and unions built the middle class. That is especially the case for UAW workers who built an iconic American industry. And critical to building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, instead of from the top down, is worker power. It’s showing how collective bargaining works by providing workers a seat at the table and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer’s success,” said President Biden in a statement.
AutoInformed on
Ford Reaches UAW Contract Agreement If Members Vote Yes
Click for more details.
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our US operations,” said Ford CEO and President Jim Farley at 8:43 pm tonight in a Dearborn issued statement. The agreement is dependent on ratification by Ford’s UAW-represented employees. Consistent with the ratification process, the UAW will share details with its membership before they are disclosed in public. This will likely occur late Sunday.
AutoInformed thinks that Bill Ford’s appeal moved the then stalled negotiations in the right direction and away from inflammatory language and posturing. Ford workers will return to work while the agreement goes through the ratification process with the UAW National Ford Council convening in Detroit this weekend to review the agreement. (See AutoInformed: Bill Ford Asks UAW to Choose His View of the Right Path)
In a video address tonight by UAW President Shawn Fain and UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, the union leaders gave some details of the agreement, while outlining next steps in the ratification process.
“For months we’ve said that record profits mean record contracts. And UAW family, our Stand Up Strike has delivered. What started at three plants at midnight on September 15, has become a national movement,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We won things nobody thought possible. Since the strike began, Ford put 50% more on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country.”
“Our union has united in a way we haven’t seen in years. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, our members came together to tell the Big Three with one voice that record profits mean a record contract,” said UAW Vice President Chuck Browning. “Thanks to the power of our members on the picket line and the threat of more strikes to come, we have won the most lucrative agreement per member since Walter Reuther was president.”
The gains in the deal, as outlined by Fain and Browning, are valued at more than four times the gains from the 2019 contract, and provide more in base wage increases than Ford workers have received in the past 22 years. The agreement gets a 25% in base wage increases through April 2028, and will cumulatively raise the top wage by over 30% to more than $40 an hour, and raise the starting wage by 68%, to more than $28 an hour.
The lowest-paid workers at Ford will see a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement, with some workers receiving an immediate 85% increase immediately upon ratification.
The agreement reinstates major benefits lost during the Great Recession, including Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA) and a three-year Wage Progression, as well as killing divisive wage tiers in the union. It improves retirement for current retirees, those workers with pensions, and those who have 401(k) plans. It also includes a historic right to strike over plant closures, a first for the union.
“The Stand Up strike continues at Stellantis and GM, where members fight for a fair agreement that honors the historic contributions and sacrifices of America’s autoworkers,” the UAW said.
“Here’s the next phase in our Stand Up Strike. We are calling on all Ford strikers to go back to work while we vote on our tentative agreement. Like everything we’ve done in this Stand Up Strike, this is a strategic move to get the best deal possible. We’re going back to work at Ford to keep the pressure on Stellantis and GM; the last thing they want is for Ford to get back to full capacity while they mess around and lag behind,” said a very tired looking Browning.
“I want to be clear. We told Ford to pony up and they did,” said Fain. “We won things nobody thought possible. Since the strike began, Ford put 50% MORE on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country. But the decision isn’t up to us. Every UAW member at Ford will get a vote on this deal, and the majority rules. So we’ll go through our process, we’ll discuss and debate, and we’ll move forward together. As a united UAW, back in the fight to save the American dream.”
“I applaud the UAW and Ford for coming together after a hard fought, good faith negotiation and reaching a historic tentative agreement tonight. This tentative agreement provides a record raise to auto workers who have sacrificed so much to ensure our iconic Big Three companies can still lead the world in quality and innovation. Ultimately, the final word on this contract will be from the UAW members themselves in the days and weeks to come. I’ve always believed the middle class built America and unions built the middle class. That is especially the case for UAW workers who built an iconic American industry. And critical to building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, instead of from the top down, is worker power. It’s showing how collective bargaining works by providing workers a seat at the table and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer’s success,” said President Biden in a statement.
AutoInformed on