Ford makes seventh offer to UAW: ‘Strongest’ yet -

Ford Motor Co. made an offer to the UAW on Monday in an effort to reach a tentative agreement on a new master labor contract, the automaker announced Tuesday evening.

The agreement, which would run through April 30, 2028, is the seventh and strongest offer Ford has made on the key economic issues since Aug. 29, Ford said in a news release.

“Ford has received two comprehensive counteroffers from the UAW, the last on Sept. 25. Ford’s latest offer provides our 57,000 UAW-represented employees with a record contract and a strong future,” Ford said.

Ford said its offer includes “unprecedented improvements in wages (putting employees among the top 25% of all U.S. jobs, hourly and salaried) and benefits, product commitments for every UAW factory and job security.”

At the same time, it preserves Ford’s ability to invest and grow, the Dearborn automaker said.

Ford makes seventh offer to UAW: ‘Strongest’ yet

“There’s no doubt our UAW workforce put us on their shoulders during the pandemic, and these same workers and their families were hit hard by inflation. We want to make sure our workers come out of these negotiations with two things — a record contract and a strong future,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a news release. “We’ve put an offer on the table that will be costly for the company, especially given our large American footprint and UAW workforce, but one that we believe still allows Ford to invest in the future.”

Ford said the union has taken a hard line on unionizing future battery plants.

A future that will include battery plants

“While Ford remains open to the possibility of working with the UAW on future battery plants in the United States, these are multibillion-dollar investments and must operate at competitive and sustainable levels,” the news release said. “Three of the four battery plants under construction are part of the BlueOval SK joint venture between Ford and SK On. The workforce for these operations has not been hired.”

Future employees at the battery operations may choose to be represented by the UAW and enter into the collective bargaining process, Ford reiterated.

“As Ford has made clear, none of our employees, including powertrain employees, will lose their jobs due to our battery plants during this contract period,” Ford said in its news release. “In fact, for the foreseeable future, we will have to hire more workers as some workers retire, in order to keep up with demand for our ICE (internal combustion engine) products.”

Here are the details

Here are the highlights, according to a release by Ford at 5:32 p.m. Tuesday:

Product commitments for every UAW plant in America; no job loss due to EV battery plants
Profit-sharing to include temporary employees for the first time
Ratification bonus to include temporary employees for the first time
Pay raise to $21 an hour or a 26% increase for temporary workers
Conversion of all temporary employees with at least three month of continuous service to permanent status upon ratification
General wage increase of more than 20%, which would be an immediate double-digit increase upon ratification
Traditional cost-of-living allowances (COLA) to provide “inflation protection”
Elimination of tiers so that all employees may reach the top wage rate
Faster wage progression, reducing by more than half the time it takes to earn top wage so that an average new hire will “earn 6 figures by 4th year”
Income protection for all permanent employees
No change to health care, which currently offers $0 premiums and puts employees in the top 1% of American workers
Increased 401(k) contributions so that the “average employee hired today can accrue $1 million-plus retirement fund with reasonable market returns”
More time off, which means up to five weeks of vacation, an average of 17 paid holidays annually including Juneteenth, and two family days

UAW: No comment

The UAW declined to immediately comment on the Ford announcement.

Some 25,000 UAW workers have been strategically deployed to strike Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis since mid-September. Michigan Assembly, which builds the Ford Bronco SUV and Ranger truck, had strike lines set up on Sept. 15. Then parts distribution sites for GM and Stellantis (which owns Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge) joined the campaign on Sept. 22, disrupting the flow of parts to car dealers and repair shops.

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