Quick and painless: Ford-UAW contract ratified by rank-and-file
UPDATE: Automotive News (sub. req'd) reports that the Ford-UAW labor contract passed by a margin of nearly 4-to-1, compared to a 2-to-1 margin for GM's contract and only 56% voting in favor of Chrysler's contract.Ford has just announced that its union-represented employees have ratified the new four-year labor contract that was reached back on Nov. 3 with the UAW. Unlike new labor contracts with General Motors and Chrysler that didn't attract overwhelming support from the UAW's rank-and-file membership, the Ford contract appears to have passed the popular vote with ease. The contract includes the increasingly popular VEBA account to take over for retiree health benefits, though Ford is contributing only 40% of the cash that will fund the account, compared to 54% for GM and 59% for Chrysler. Also like the previous two contracts, a new two-tier wage system will be employed, though only until 20% of Ford's UAW work force occupies the lower wage tier. Finally, Ford will take the money it saved on the VEBA account and reinvest it back into various manufacturing facilities to make them more flexible. Despite that, both the Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant and the Ohio Assembly Plant are being shuttered in addition to those already announced, while the automaker plans to make new product commitments to its remaining plants in the near future.
We're not sure whether UAW workers for Ford accepted the contract so readily because of its more favorable terms or the apparent futility in opposing the UAW leadership on things like labor contracts. There was a considerable amount of rank-and-file opposition to Chrysler's new labor contract, but at the end of the day it too won the popular vote thanks to the support of union leaders.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE:
UAW-FORD NATIONAL LABOR AGREEMENT RATIFIED BY MEMBERS
DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 14, 2007 – Ford Motor Company today confirmed that its new four-year national labor agreement, tentatively reached on Nov. 3, has been ratified by UAW-represented employees. The now-final agreement covers approximately 54,000 employees in the United States.
"We are pleased that our employees have voted to accept and finalize our new Collective Bargaining Agreement," said Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Company president and CEO. "This agreement is proof that by working together with our UAW partners, it is possible to find solutions that collectively benefit our employees, retirees and the company. This contract will provide significant opportunities for the company's long-term competitiveness, and that is good for all of us."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rgseidl 12:36PM (11/14/2007)
Ford is posting record losses on its core operations and its workforces knows that. There is no point in holding out for more when there really isn't any to give.
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johnnyb 5:08PM (11/14/2007)
Um... Wayne and Ohio are being REMOVED from the closed list. See Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/AUTO01/711050352/1148/rss25
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Turan Ahmed 1:23PM (11/14/2007)
Nice to see that good sense prevails.
It is understandably painful for UAW members given the halcyon heydays of the past as previous world's best paid/most priveliged auto-workers, but we live in a very different world where Asian competitors most definitely hold the upper hand.
When the likes of South Korea's Hyundai are trying to lower labour costs to compete against the Chinese, who themselves are going through a period of 're-alignment' themselves, even discounting the possible emerging Indian players, then the issue of US-based cost structures are firmly put into focus.
So good to see Detroit's 3 restructuring with vigour and purpose, it's the only way to secure US auto interests, from VMs down to their tier 3 suppliers.
The weak dollar will help attract more foreign investment to build 'new-domestic' plants and will also greatly assist Ford, GM, Chrysler exports, so things are finally shaping-up.
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Guenther 1:25PM (11/14/2007)
Meanwhile International Truck and Engine is entering week 4 of the strike. There is no quick end in sight.
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Murphy 1:36PM (11/14/2007)
I work at Ford and I work hard despite what most people think of union workers. I do my job I don't take sick days and I try to be an asset to my company.... Having said that Ford has made some bad decisions. ie. poor designs, bad management, quality issues (not caused by workers). Now they want to come to the line workers like myself and say "we need concessions". "We need to hire people at lower wages" "We need you to work longer shifts without overtime" etc..and they say they have to do these things to compete. Well I say thats crap. Stop overpaying bad management. Start making attractive quality cars and all will be good.
Everyone wants to bash UAW employees for being overpaid or having some sort of gravy jobs. We do make good money but that doesn't mean we're overpaid maybe it just means your underpaid. Also these vehicles don't build themselves. Alot of people work real hard on assembly lines (Factory work sucks thats why they pay well). I could understand if I slacked at work or missed a lot of work why they would want concessions but when you are a good employee it sucks to be punished when all you've done is bust your hump for that company.
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Hamud 1:48PM (11/14/2007)
I know how you feel. But I guess you shouldn't take it as a punishment, they just can't continue paying as they used to, it's just a matter of being competitive, they can't rise the prices, so they need to lower the costs...
Murphy 2:13PM (11/14/2007)
I know they need to be competitive. However that is a hard pill to swallow when you see them paying 20 or 30 million to Mullally who will also probably get some sort of bonus for getting this contract to pass.
compy386 2:17PM (11/14/2007)
It sucks if you're working hard and have to take concessions but you gotta realize that the people around you aren't. I know salaried workers that work in the plants and they complain endlessly about how inefficient the work is. What's worse, they try to help out and get cited by the union for helping. If the manufacturer makes a poor product in the rest of the world, factories shut down. Sucks for the worker, but there's nothing else you can do. In the auto industry, people keep working and building crappy products no one wants to buy. The labor complains about management being overpaid. The actual issue is that the wrong people are staying. Think about it, if you cut salaried pay, who are the people that leave? The quality employees that get a job elsewhere. The fact is the big 3 is in tough times because they can't make the tough decisions. At GE, Welsh fired you immediately if you weren't performing. Not so much with the auto companies (salaried or hourly).
Big Rocket 4:09PM (11/14/2007)
Murphy @ Nov 14th 2007 1:36PM wrote:
"... [Ford management] say they have to do these [reduction in labor costs] to compete. Well I say thats crap. Stop overpaying bad management."
The UAW doesn't want to make concessions because upper management doesn't. Upper management doesn't want to make concessions because the UAW doesn't. See where this finger-pointing gets you? If things continued the way they did, with both the UAW and management getting overpaid versus overseas competition, then one day, both the UAW and management will be forced to make the ultimate concession: pink slips for all.
"We [at the UAW] do make good money but that doesn't mean we're overpaid maybe it just means your underpaid."
According to a CNN Money article in early 2007: "...the gap between Japanese and American carmakers' profits average out to about $2900 per vehicle... A big reason is the cost of labor..." You can rationalize all you want whether UAW workers are overpaid, or overseas workers are underpaid, but at the end of the day, the status quo only guarantees one thing: loss of market share for the Big 3, and its eventual downfall. It happened to the consumer electronics industry, and it will happen to the auto industry unless more UAW workers see the light, and accept necessary concessions.
Source:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/26/news/companies/pluggedin_taylor_ford.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007012611
That One Person 7:48PM (11/14/2007)
Murph...trust me, my dad is in the same boat. But he is skilled trades (electrician). He actually voted for this contract. But now the problem he has to face is getting a decent contract passed for his local.
I know his local made a ton of concessions a couple years back. They knew Ford was having issues. And they got rid of a lot of overtime, vacation days and sick days.
Should be interesting to see how well this contract works out of Ford.
elprogramer 8:58PM (11/14/2007)
Hey Brother, I feel your pain. GM here though.
The thing you have to consider is that even though those executives screw up (and I don't think they should be paid all that much when they do), when they succeed, they earn us billions of dollars.
I hate to say it, but it's a cut-throat business. I'd say we can only pull ourselves out of this madness by organizing the foreign autoworkers, but they'll just ship production to Mexico. :/
Elliott 10:09AM (11/15/2007)
I think unions are designed to penalize the hardest workers and reward the laziest and end up bringing everyone to the middle.
If you are a hard worker, then you would beneift by working in a non-union career where you can earn merit based promotions and raises. Instead you work at a location where even the worst worker is guaranteed by contract to recieve the same benefits guaranteed to the hardest worker.
Halrivers 3:51PM (11/15/2007)
As a UAW retiree, I watch with dismay as American capitalism retreats from the social contract that began in the New Deal era. Work hard and you could share in the American Dream, with the government backing up your right to unionize and society in general committed to social progress and better standards of life. Those standards are now being sacrificed to "competitiveness," meaning a global race to the bottom. I know how callous auto management was when we struggled for safety and dignity in the 70s and 80s (see www.autoplant.info), and now the companies have found a way out. Where is the shame?
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_Jon 3:55PM (11/15/2007)
Evidently the comments posted here are not read by the authors.
I posted comments by people who had read the contract before voting on it. They provided feedback from several people that UAW rank-and-file thought it was a very good contract for them.
The people who read it liked it. Hence the 4-1 voting.
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