BREAKING NEWS: Ford Workers Approve Contract
November 14, 2007

The UAW announced Wednesday its members working in Ford plants approved a new four-year labor contract with Ford by a margin of nearly 4-to-1.

The Ford contract is the last of the three to be approved. It was done so without a strike and by the most overwhelming margin.

Little information has been provided about the contract, pending its approval. However, it is known to include a two-tire wage structure and the establishment of a union-run trust fund for retiree health care in exchange for the automaker keeping plants open.

The union said Ford can hire new hourly employees starting at the lower rate of $14.20 per hour. Up to 20 percent of the hourly workforce can be made up of lower-wage workers. In exchange for these provisions to help Ford’s bottom line, the automaker guaranteed to keep certain plants open, including six plants that were in danger of closing.

Ford executives have promised a briefing on the contract after its approval. The contract covers 54,000 workers and more than 94,000 retirees and 28,000 surviving spouses.

The total vote was 79 percent in favor of the contract –- 81 percent of production workers and 71 percent of skilled tradesmen.

At GM, the margin was about 2-to-1, with the contract being settled after a two-day strike. At Chrysler, the new contract had the least support of the Big Three with 56 percent voting in favor and a strike that lasted six hours.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:35 AM under Ford , News | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine