Ford Motor’s UAW Union Members Approve Tentative Labor Agreement
After contentious negotiations, union members at Ford Motor approved a tentative agreement, concluding contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit automakers. The UAW-Ford workers were the last of the automakers to ratify their pact, following General Motors workers who narrowly approved an agreement Thursday and Stellantis workers who supported their agreement.
The Ford deal was supported by 68.2% of the nearly 35,000 autoworkers at Ford who voted, according to the UAW’s vote tracker. Local UAW chapters representing every Ford plant voted in favor of the pact aside from a small parts facility in Florida and the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant, as of early Friday afternoon.
The contract ratifications came after about six weeks of targeted strikes by the UAW, which began on September 15. Preliminary results at Stellantis showed 68.4% support by hourly workers who voted, while at GM, the vote returned 54.7% approval.
The agreements are record-setting for the union, with wage increases of at least 25% and other economic improvements. For the union and UAW President Shawn Fain, the deals and the associated economic gains help in efforts to grow the union’s ranks through inclusion of future jobs such as those at battery plants and organizing at other nonunion automakers operating in the U.S.
For the companies and their investors, the contracts represent the top end of forecast increases in labor costs. Ford CFO John Lawler said the UAW deal, if ratified by members, would add $850 to $900 in costs per vehicle assembled. He said Ford will work to “find productivity and efficiencies and cost reductions throughout the company” to offset the additional costs and deliver on previously announced profitability targets.
This article was originally published by CNBC.
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