Autoblog

Ford hiring 2,200 salaried US workers this year

Jeffrey N. Ross — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:01:00 EST

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Lincoln

With its influx of popular new products made in the US, Ford Motor Company has announced that it intends to hire 2,200 new salaried workers domestically this year. This is the biggest increase of salaried workers for Ford in the last 10 years, and it is all a part of Ford's contract commitment to the United Auto Workers union to bring 12,000 new jobs to the US by 2015.

There were no specifics as to where in the US these job openings will be, but Ford did reiterate that it will be spending $773 million on equipment upgrades and capacity expansion at six plants located in southeast Michigan; as a whole, Ford is investing a total of $6.2 billion to its US assembly plants over the next couple years. According to recently appointed president of the Americas Joe Hinrichs, the new jobs will be focused on areas such as engineering, manufacturing and computer software. Ford will post its job openings online at careers.ford.com, and it will also use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to recruit new workers, including military veterans.

Scroll down for more about Ford's planned job growth as well as how to go about applying for said openings.

Continue reading Ford hiring 2,200 salaried US workers this year

Ford hiring 2,200 salaried US workers this year originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canadian Auto Workers vote to merge with rival, form 'super union'

Jeff Sabatini — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: UAW/Unions, Canada

How would you respond to the headline "No More Auto Workers Union"? Our northern neighbors will likely be bidding goodbye to their Canadian Auto Workers Union, as the membership has agreed to merge with the country's Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that a unanimous vote of delegates at the CAW's convention has approved the merger. If finalized, the new organization will have more than 300,000 members, most of them working in manufacturing, communications and transportation. The CEP still has to vote on the proposal in October, but its president seems bullish on the merger, describing it as a "bigger and better union," according to the report.

CAW president Ken Lewenza (pictured above) agreed, saying, "This union will pose a serious challenge to the unrepresentative, unfair economic and political systems workers now find themselves caught in."

A new name for the combined organization has not yet been determined.

Canadian Auto Workers vote to merge with rival, form 'super union' originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UAW targeting VW and Mercedes for U.S. organizing drive

Jeff Sabatini — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:44:00 EST

Filed under: Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, UAW/Unions

The United Autoworkers Union is struggling - and it is the first to admit it. With its membership dwindling after three decades of workforce cuts by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, the union has pinned its future on organizing one of the transplants. Efforts to convince workers at Japanese-owned plants, like the Nissan factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, have fallen on deaf ears in the past, but there's now hope that the UAW might succeed at one of the newer German-owned plants.

According to Reuters, the union is targeting the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. The UAW's strategy reportedly involves seeking assistance from IG Metall, the powerful German labor union that helped the UAW organize a VW plant in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. Reuters says the German union has a vested interest in helping the UAW, in that it does not want non-unionized workers at the German-owned plants in the United States to be able to undercut it on labor costs. If IG Metall can pressure the German carmakers not to oppose the UAW, the American union would have an easier time getting workers to vote for it, or at least that's the thinking.

Yet even with IG Metall's help, the UAW faces a historic challenge in organizing in the South, where the word "union" is regarded about the same as it was during the Civil War. And time is running out, according to the report, which says the UAW has been dipping into its strike fund since 2006.

UAW targeting VW and Mercedes for U.S. organizing drive originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Details of UAW/GM deal reveal minimum wage raise, 6.4K jobs created or retained [w/poll]

John Neff — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:45:00 EST

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM, Earnings/Financials, UAW/Unions

Details about the tentative deal struck between General Motors and the United Auto Workers union last Friday are being released, and it would appear the union didn't do too bad for itself. Under the new agreement, General Motors has reportedly agreed to retain or create 6,400 union jobs as part of a $2.5 billion investment in future products and the plants that build them. Those product and plant investments include the following:

Reopening GM's Spring Hill, TN plant to build two new mid-sized vehicles
A new compact vehicle to be built at a plant to be determined
A new transmission program at the company's Warren, MI powertrain plant
A new engine program at the company's Romulus, MI powertrain plant
A new casting operation at a plant in Saginaw, MI
An additional production shift at the company's Wentzville, MO assembly plant

Automotive News reports that most of the above investments were originally slated for GM's Mexico operations but will now remain in the U.S. and contribute to the retention or creation of those 6,400 jobs.

Of course, in order to keep and create jobs, others must retire, and so the new accord between GM and the UAW will offer a $10,000 buyout to eligible employees who retire over the next two years and a whopping $65,000 buyout for skilled trades workers who retire between November 1 and March 31, 2012. GM has also agreed to make adjustments to the controversial two-tier wage structure established by the last agreement, raising the minimum wage for entry-level workers from $14/hour to $15.78/hour, as well as improving their health insurance and offering tuition assistance.

Current workers would also appear to make out well, with a record signing bonus of $5,000 if the contract gets ratified, as well lump sum payments of $1,000 in 2012, 2013 and 2014 in lieu of cost-of-living adjustments. Workers will also get a minimum profit-sharing payment in early 2012 of $3,500 based on GM's profits through June 2011, as well as an annual award of $250 if the company meets certain quality goals. All-in, current workers stand to pocket an extra $12K during the course of this new contract. How do you think this new deal rates? Take the poll and tell us why in Comments.

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Details of UAW/GM deal reveal minimum wage raise, 6.4K jobs created or retained [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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