Over the past several weeks, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union has been working on negotiating a new contract with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, a process that admittedly hasn’t progressed very quickly, even as a September 14th deadline looms before a strike could occur. The UAW has revealed a list of demands including a 40+ 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, though Ford’s initial offer to the union didn’t quite come close to meeting these demands and drew the ire of UAW President Shawn Fain. However, according to Reuters, the union is preparing a counteroffer for Ford, lending some hope to the notion that a strike could be avoided, after all.
Thus far, Fain has been quite clear that he and the UAW are willing to strike if a deal isn’t reached by next week’s deadline, even going so far as to dismiss President Biden’s comments that he doesn’t feel like it will happen as “shocking,” and insinuating that Biden may know something that he doesn’t.
In the meantime, Ford – which is the only automaker of the Detroit Big Three to submit a contract proposal to the UAW thus far – is facing a pretty big divide between that offer and what the union wants. Ford is offering a nine percent general wage hike, along with additional health care benefits, an elimination of wage tiers, and more money for temporary workers.
Regardless, the two sides will apparently continue to work toward reaching a deal before next week’s deadline, even as both remain at a rather large impasse. As Ford Authority reported earlier today, The Blue Oval stands to potentially lose a considerable amount of profit either way, though ultimately, the financial impact it incurs will depend on the final, agreed-upon terms of this new contract – if one does get done on time.
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
No more concessions. Any agreement whether it take a strike of 3 months or more is worth it.
We will do what must be done!
Bite your nose to spite your face! Go to Mexico, that’s where you’re forcing them to send your job.
I see that 2 union sheep have entered their comments.
Most likely you will have a nice vacation coming up. ENJOY!!
Try not to be too jealous. Want a postcard from the picket line? ; )
Honest days work for an honest days pay. most of us work 5 days a week, not 4. Also I hate to break it to you, no one is getting a 40% raise across the next 5 years without being a high performing individual. UAW is not locked in reality with the private sector.
We don’t honestly expect to get everything that Mr Fain is asking for in these negotiations. We ask for everything and end up with some. Simply the art of negotiating.
I’m all for the UAW workers getting a raise. As long as it’s fair to both sides. Shawn Fain is delusional in his demands and threats. The dude negotiates like an immature twelve year old, constantly making threats and calling it a “war” and the company “the enemy”. What he conveniently never talks about is the fact that non-union OEMs (Toyota, Honda, TSLA, etc) have a large competitive advantage vs Ford on labor costs. They’ve been gaining market share for years vs Big 3. Fain says UAW workers can’t afford the products they make. Guess what, a fat raise will make them significantly more expensive. Customers are already balking at the high price of vehicles. The UAW needs to be reasonable and compromise, or Ford (and GM) are toast…
Thanks for your support on UAW workers getting a raise. Much appreciated. I just wanted to point out that all automakers set their prices on vehicles regardless of what their labor costs and budgets are. Jim Farley himself said that Ford had to reduce the price of the lightning due to supply and demand. The real issue here is that customers are willing to shell out 100k for a truck. That isn’t exclusive to Ford. I get it, it’s easy to blame the UAW and make claims that it’s our fault that the price of vehicles will go up or we’ll lose all our product to Mexico and China. It simply isn’t true. Prices of vehicles have been consistently going up for years while our wages have stayed stagnant for the last decade or so. Don’t worry, Ford and GM aren’t going anywhere.
I’m not blaming the UAW. But I do like to deal in facts. Could Ford produce their now discontinued car line up (focus, fiesta, fusion and Taurus) profitably in the USA? No they couldn’t, that’s why they have all been discontinued. Could Ford produce a low end truck like Maverick in the USA and be profitable on it? Nope, which is why it’s produced in Mexico, where labor is cheaper. Yes, Ford can still produce higher priced vehicles here profitably, but competition in auto industry is fierce. I’m all for UAW members getting a “fair” raise. But Shawn Fain demanding a 46% raise is ridiculous. And his constant threatening negotiating tactics are B.S. Both sides need to compromise. The UAW will never talk about their failure to win over the competition (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, TSLA, BMW, Mercedes, etc al). The majority of the employees at these OEMs don’t want the UAW… why? Because UAW has a history of making companies complacent and uncompetitive. If the UAW was so great Shawn Fain would be spending his time working on winning over non-union OEMs – but he doesn’t. Again, I’m all for a fair raise. I believe the employees deserve a decent bump. I’m also for rolling back Ford executive pay, it’s become bloated. But both sides need to compromise or Ford (and GM) will lose more market share and at some point will be out-competed by all the new EV competitors and the non-union OEMs. I live in California ( the biggest auto market in the U.S.) it’s mostly Toyota, Tesla, BMW, etc out here. Few Ford’s and basically no Lincolns. Just a hint, it wasn’t always this way! I’m rooting for a fair agreement for both sides, that will keep the company healthy and around for decades to come.
What people (jealous non union )don’t understand is car prices.Here’s what you can do really easy
1)See how much a f-150 sold for in 2018-19
2)See that they have went up 24-40% in sticker price
3)Understand that the average UAW line workers pay rose 6% from 2018-2023
4)Conclude that the CEOs and higher ups SALARY rose 20-45% during this time MEANING they’re the cause of the price hikes NOT the guy making 65k a year.
I guess if you cherry pick facts and ignore any contrasting information, you’re 100% correct!!!!
Well said Mark
More money = more time for the lazy people to take off work, and that is 30% of Ford workers.
People should be working everyday. I dont get it why do people get days off?!
We want $800/hour, work 2 days every two weeks but paid for 14, and free pot in the break room. Oh and 7.5 hour paid breaks every 8 hour work day.
Wuuutt? Y do u go bankrupted????? Who culda seen dis comin??????
UAW, United Against Work
I would like to see the retired workers get a pay raise with this new contract. I haven’t had a raise since 2003. That’s when I retired from Ford. Contract come and go! Retired live with the same until you die.
The Billionaires won be happy until there are only two classes of people they want to eliminate middle class America.