Trade-off between Ford and the United Auto Workers after the UAW Expands Strike: A Proposed Proposed Labor Agreement for the EV Transition
TheFord CEO Jim Farley said in a statement that they have reached a tentative agreement with the UAW on a new labor contract.
According to preliminary reports, Ford agreed to raise wages by 25 percent and the cost of living increase will increase the pay increase by 30 percent to a max of 40 an hour. The deal is still subject to approval by the union’s membership.
“Between wage increases, COLA [cost of living adjustments], annual bonuses to retirees, and other economic gains, there is more value for our members in each individual year of this agreement than the entirety of the 2019 agreement,” UAW vice president Chuck Browning said in a video. The deal gives a lot more money than the one in 2019.
Farley said now that they had a tentative deal, the company was focused on restarting its plants in Kentucky, Michigan, and Chicago, as well as calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work “and shipping our full lineup to our customers again.”
Like other automakers, Ford is spending tens of billions of dollars on the EV transition, including the construction of four new EV battery plants in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Michigan. Three of the four factories are formed with a Chinese company.
Included as well in the tentative deal is a three-year progression for full-time employees to the top wage, improvement to retirement benefits, and the right to strike over plant closures, which would mark a first for the union.
The deal is likely to ramp up pressure on GM and Stellantis to also reach tentative deals after the UAW this week expanded its strike at the largest plants of each of the automakers, where many of their bestselling trucks and SUVs are built.
In addition, more than 3,000 workers laid off by Ford in what the company called a ripple effect of the strike are also expected to be back on the job.
“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,” Biden said in a statement.