Ford has signed a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union, and the manufacturer has begun reopening its plants, including the Kentucky truck plant that produces it pickup trucks.
According to the union as reported in Industry Week, the contract includes a base wage increase of 25% and accomplishes top union priorities, including a restored 2009-era cost-of-living allowances, a three-year wage progression, the elimination of wage tiers, and a novel right to strike over plant closures.
The tentative agreement is still subject to approval from the UAW’s National Ford Council and the UAW’s local Ford unions. However, UAW leaders said they're calling on workers to return to assembly lines in the coming days, before members vote on the deal.
Union leaders cited their strategy of rolling plant shutdowns as forcing Ford to make a deal quickly.
“On Monday, we called on our UAW family at Sterling Heights Assembly. That is Stellantis’ biggest and most profitable plant,” said Shawn Fain, UAW president, in a video address. “On Tuesday, our UAW family at Arlington Assembly answered the call, and they went out on strike, shutting down GM’s biggest and most profitable plant. Ford knew what was coming for them on Wednesday if we didn’t get a deal. That was checkmate.”
Ford President Jim Farley, in a statement, said he was “pleased to have reached a tentative agreement” with the UAW.
“Ford is proud to assemble the most vehicles in America and employ the most hourly autoworkers,” Farley wrote. “We are focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work and shipping our full lineup to our customers again.”
The article referenced in this story originally ran as “UAW, Ford Announce Tentative Agreement, Ending Strike for 20,000” on Industry Week, an Endeavor Business Media sibling site.
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Rod Sutton
Sutton has served as the editorial lead of Construction Equipment magazine and ConstructionEquipment.com since 2001.
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