Last month we mentioned that Ford-UAW contract negotiations would kick off this month. The Blue Oval has now announced that Ford-UAW contract negotiations are underway. Among the Ford and UAW executives at the negotiating table are Gary Jones, president UAW International, and Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company. The Ford-UAW contract negotiations are for the 2019 contract.
The current Ford-UAW contract was put in place in 2015 and ends in September 2019. Ford points out that it far exceeded its contract commitments for 2015 contracts having invested more than $9 billion in U.S. plants and creating or retaining more than 8,500 hourly jobs.
Ford has about 55,000 hourly UAW-represented workers in the States, more than any other automaker and is bragging that it builds more of its vehicles in the U.S. than its competition. About 82 percent of all the Ford vehicles are built in the States. While there is no indication of how long the Ford-UAW contract negotiations will last, they won’t be easy.
Ford has been shutting down factories in Europe and shedding workers globally, including white collar workers in the U.S., for months. Some experts have warned that the negotiations are expected to be some of the most difficult that Ford has had since the recession years ago. For the UAW’s part, it has vowed to be tough on automakers across the board to protect the pay and health of workers with plants being closed and executives getting raises.
One of the big negotiating points for the UAW is reportedly to seek raises for union members and to try and secure agreements for work to be kept in America. Raises is likely to be a big sticking point for Ford; experts believe that Ford will try and save money on labor as it is pushing hard to downsize and shed jobs globally. Labor costs are one of the few places left where Ford can save.
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