Though contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis have been going on for weeks now, little progress has been made thus far. In fact, the two sides remain at a rather large impasse after the initial offers from both Ford and GM were dismissed by UAW President Shawn Fain as “insulting,” while Stellantis has yet to submit a single offer. The union did give FoMoCo a counterproposal earlier this week, however, and talks are continuing ahead of the forthcoming September 14th deadline, at which point a strike could occur, and both President Joe Biden and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have stepped into the conversation in an effort to prevent that from happening. Now, Ford has submitted a revised contract proposal to the UAW, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The exact details of this newly revised contract proposal are currently unclear, but this report notes that Ford has “sweetened the deal” in regardless to wages, cost of living adjustments, and contract ratification bonuses. UAW officials met with The Blue Oval at its Dearborn headquarters today – a group that included Fain – who will be spending time there next week as well while all parties work to hammer out a new deal.
The UAW’s demands include a 46 percent pay increase, the end of tiered pay systems, a cap on temporary workers, the reintroduction of cost of living increases, and a four-day, 32-hour full-time work week. In its initial deal, Ford offered a nine percent general wage increase, two three percent lump sum payments, cost of living adjustments totaling $12,000, and a $5,500 ratification bonus.
As Ford Authority reported earlier this week, a strike could prove quite costly for Ford, its rivals, and the state of Michigan, not to mention consumers. A recently study predicts that if the Big 3 meets the UAW demands, it could cost upwards of $8 billion in profits over the length of the contract – which could be passed down to consumers – while a strike could delay the ongoing EV transition, with lost production costing automakers another $1.4 billion per week.
We’ll have more on Ford’s contract negotiations with the UAW soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
The unions are not dealing from a position of power this time. Inventory levels are high and auto makers are switching to EVs which require far fewer workers.
Your first sentence is blatantly wrong. Just so you know, when most automobile companies do eventually switch to EVs only, it won’t be just unionized manufacturers cutting people.
Wrong wrong wrong!
You forgot “….32 hour 4 day work week, WHILE getting paid for 40 hours…”
Ask for everything, expect some.
That’s not what Fain is doing. He’s doing the ‘my way or the highway’ act. What a douche.
No its so ANYTHING after is OT. Autoworkers work longer hrs then possibly any other industry! Facts.
really? ask health care workers, city workers, postal workers, teachers, etc. get off your high horse.
This is why cars are increasingly built in Mexico and now China. The union evidently has not connected their membership trend over the last 30+ years with costs that increase faster than productivity. Robotics manufacturers love it though.
Yet the union still stands strong and is stronger than it has been in decades. Ford seems to understand that manufacturing in the USA is a good thing. Can’t speak for GM or Stellantis.
This is a very true statement! Though GM builds the most vehicles in the US behind Ford.
the union wasn’t strong 15 years ago when they have up COLA and raises and pensions and health care. would have been nice if they would have stood STRONG then.
That was supposed to be a temporary concession in order to prevent the big 3 from going bankrupt. Unfortunately, things were really bad for a lot of people during 2008. It is our intention to restore what we gave up in the next contract.
Ford Motor builds the most vehicles of ANYONE in the US. There are zero vehicles being built in China & sent to the US currently!
It is evident that you have difficulty reading a rather simple graph, which clearly shows that wages have been lagging productivity since the late seventies. You are also unfamiliar with the wage sacrifices autoworkers made in 2008, which were never made up to them, despite record profitability of the big three. It is make up time, and there is no justification for the big three to hold back, other than greed. It is time to pay the people who make the money.
the people that sacraficed are now retired. and it wasn’t a sacrafice, it was a vote. i kept saying to vote NO.
Robots are only good as the people that make them and they cost the company a lot of money when they malfunction. Lol. I work at Ford PRC we distribute parts all around the world China, Mexico, Canada and Europe.
ummm free trade has pushed companies to Mexico… would you expect americans to cut their wages to $4 hr to keep the jobs here?? stop buying product coming from Mexico and watch how fast the jobs come back states side.
Tho hell with unions they gonna be another reason this country fails to hell with unions and the uaw
Blatantly wrong.
I 100% agree.
We need more unions then ever. Corporations are screwing everyone including you.
and you think that unions have your best interests in mind? they negotiated to have COLA cut, no Christmas bonus and no raises. so what they want to do is get back the stuff the convinced us to give up 15 years ago. good job UAW.
To hell with punctuation and proper grammar, too!
You got two of the biggest unions running our country the American Bar Association and The American Medical Association what about them ???
We want our Fords built in the US and parts. I am Ford all the way and buying a new f350.
Negotiate a fair contract for all. A 46% pay increase is absurd. 32 hour work weeks a laugh. I spent my entire career in healthcare taking care of patients generally working 60-65 hours a week as a salaried employee.
The news needs get the facts straight… its not a 46% increase.. its broken down between pensions , benefits and all the temporary part time workers. Lots of details not being reported.
how about the news report what the union wants to give up? they never tell you that.
Unions are obsolete at this point. We have workers rights. They are trolls who end up digging into everyone’s pocket book with no contribution of their own. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, etc. seem to be operating just fine without them.
This is a song that has been heard since the guilds first set up in the 19th century, and is as false now, as it was then. Workers rights are continually under attack, and even under the former President, the governing body for labour rights was handcuffed. The only strenght labour has is their united front against the corporations, who recognize this by themselves uniting into employer cartels. Some of the import manufacturers operate without union representation by exceeding the benefits offered in the major union contracts, and by not warring on their employees.
Weird how you claim that unions are “obsolete” yet a lot of people are organizing and forming unions. Also, I’m not sure which foreign auto maker in the USA has better benefits and pay than the Big 3. The foreign auto makers in the USA get incentives from the states that are willing to take them in. The pay rate is anywhere from $22-$28 an hour and the reason why those workers won’t organize is that it’s more difficult to find a comparable paying job in the area. For example, Nissan owes the USA nothing. They could shut down all their manufacturing and build nothing in the USA. Ford, on the other hand, will most likely not produce all their products internationally. It’s sad that people have anti union views. What did we ever do to you?
“What did we ever do to you”. Raised prices of vehicles while making absurdly high wages for unskilled jobs. I remember the Teamsters strike in the 60’s. Throwing stones off of overpasses at vehicles. Threats and murder were the way unions acted out. Worked in a Ford dealership. Found beer bottles in truck doors, and sabotaged engines when preparing to strike. Unions are criminal enterprises much of the time. GREEDY
First and foremost, we have nothing to do with vehicle pricing and anyone who tells you that is wrong. Secondly, this is 2023 and not the 1960s. Nobody is threatening anyone else with destruction and violence. We want a fair contract and fair wages and we will achieve that peacefully. Lastly, you worked at a dealership and are trying to call the UAW a “criminal enterprise” and “greedy” LOL. Sounds like what we’re doing doesn’t concern you. Go enjoy your retirement.
you have away my COLA 15 years ago. and now you want it back?
Uh, yeah, pretty much…
Those companies are getting huge state cuts to not go union and Tax payers are slammed with the bill to build their plants. Who wins if they eliminate all unions in the US? I can only imagine how corporations would kill a liveable check and healthcare for a Family??? 🤔
Obsolete? Did you see the last contract (2019)? This is what a company will do if the union doesn’t step in: They will hire you as a temp and keep you a temp indefinitely- I started working for 1 of the big 3 right after that contract, and was surprised to learn that I would be in temp status making $16 and some change for 2 years without a raise before they would make me full time, but found out how lucky I was because there were people working as temps for up to 10 years before being transitioned to full time- that’s 10 years without all the benefits, vacation and watching everyone around them receive bonuses and profit share checks, no 401k- nothing, so unions are most definitely needed when it’s obvious that the company will do the absolute bare minimum for their team members- all as they’re raking in record profits and collecting those millions in bonuses themselves.
if the unions are so needed, you would have been hired full time to begin with. the negotiated for the tier and temp status. that’s not the company, that’s the union. more people (temps) more union dues. they don’t care about you.
I’ve owned many Fords in my life. Currently a 2021 F-150 and 2020 Edge ST. These are the two worst build quality Ford’s I have ever owned. The Edge, made in Canada, is far worse than the F-150, but the F-150 has had a lot of assembly/build quality issues as well. I used to be 110% for made in the USA. Ford for their part has been the most American car company for years. But the American worker is lacking severely in pride and work ethic. Everyone is entitled to more, way more, for less. That’s the new American way. The best Ford I ever owned, hands down was a 2016 Fusion. Made in Mexico!! I had two problems with that car in almost 150k and those were both recalls not in any way associated with the workers assembling them. I would buy a made in Mexico F-150 over a made in USA F-150 if I had the choice. Even if the price was the same.
I’ve owned a number of Ford Superduty’s. And all of them except the 2006, have been nothing short of great vehicles. The 2006, was just Ford’s fault for putting in the 6.0 diesel. The 2021 i drive right now, has had 1 issue, and that was the wiper recall. Other than that, you service it regularly, and that’s it. I have a 2024 on order, and it is supposed to be built the week of 10/2. “Supposed”…. Depends on the strike. But all i will say is, everyone at KTP thru the covid stuff, did an excellent job on the 2020-2021 vehicles. I’ve heard a few quality control issues on the 2023’s. But i’ve said it for years, and i’ll continue to say it now, i trust every Ford way more than i trust anything else out there today.
I have a 2019 Ford escape s ( base model) purchase for a good price ,( affordable) good usa product so far no issues, Ford has to go with affordable pricing, that way more vehicles are sold and money will come in base on volume sales.
Is the UAW President banking success on having big brother sticking their finger in this?
+ It is probably hard to work on a production line in a gloomy assembly plant, I think the pay Is more than fair for a job that anyone could do with a two days of training. You all better watch out for the layoffs when know one can afford to buy a vehicle , and your job will be replace by a none English speaking Biden voters for half the pay. Also the car companies should be able to perform random alcohol and drug tests on workers to see how intoxicated they are, while on the job, and set limits on how much they can drink and smoke before their shift starts. Just Say’in
Oh great. Lets get Mr Potato Head involved. He’s lucky to mumble out an incoherent sentence.