BREAKING NEWS Ford, UAW Reach Agreement
By Michelle Krebs November 3, 2007Ford and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative contract agreement in the early morning hours of Saturday, after round-the-clock bargaining for the past couple of days.
Few details of the agreement were released. It does contain a union-run trust fund to hand retiree health care obligations, commitments from Ford on new product investments and a two-tier wage structure that pays new non-production employees less than current ones.
Ford confirmed in a statement that the contract calls for the creation of a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA, to handle retiree health care obligations.
UAW Vice President Bob King, who directs the unionâs National Ford Department, said in the statement: âOur goals for this contract were to win new product and investment, to enhance job security and protect seniority â and we made progress in all these.â
In a prepared statement, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said: âOur bargaining committee came through for our active and retired members. Our team is proud of each and every negotiator because they have encouraged Ford to invest in product and people while addressing the economic needs of our active and retired members.â
The contract also contains a two-tier wage structure, paying new hires for non-production jobs less than current employees.
A Ford statement said the new contract paves the way for Ford to increase its competitiveness in the U.S.â
More information about the contract will become available when the UAW takes the tentative contract to its 54,000 members for a ratification vote.
Ford was the only one of the Big Three to come to an agreement with the union without a strike, or even the threat of one.
LEAVE A COMMENT
The fact that there was no strike or even a strike threat with Ford is really not all that surprising, in fact it probably would have been very disturbing to many if a third strike happened. Ford and the UAW have been at the table continuously since July and certainly both have watched and learned from what went on with GM and then Chrysler. The UAW has the knowledge all along of what each of the D-3 have as contract objectives and there is lots of information flow between the labor staffs at each of the D-3 companies. Let's hope for a smooth ratification of the Ford agreement.
ADD A COMMENT