The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike began at the Ford Michigan Assembly plant back in mid-September, after which it expanded to include the Chicago Assembly plant and Kentucky Assembly plant. However, Ford later reached a tentative deal with the union that includes a massive product investment from the automaker, and a few days later, its Detroit Big Three counterparts, General Motors and Stellantis, followed suit. Regardless, UAW members must still vote to ratify the tentative deal before it can officially take effect, and thus far, that process had been going rather well, with multiple plants doing precisely that. However, now it seems as if this process has hit a bit of a snag after UAW workers at the Kentucky Truck plant and Louisville Assembly plant have rejected the proposed contract.
This news comes to us straight from the UAW Local 862, which posted the results of this vote on Facebook. Only 45 percent of production workers at the Kentucky plant voted in favor of the tentative contract, along with 69 percent of skilled trades workers. This is the first time the majority vote didn’t favor the proposed deal, as the Michigan Assembly plant, Buffalo Stamping plant, Chicago Assembly plant, the Flat Rock Assembly plant, and Kansas City Assembly plant all voted in favor of the contract by a large margin.
At Flat Rock, a total of 66.2 percent of production workers voted in favor of the tentative contract, along with 78.3 percent of skilled trades workers. In Chicago, 55 percent of production workers voted in favor of the tentative agreement, along with 73 percent of skilled trades workers, compared to 62.9 percent of all UAW workers at the Kansas City plant, 78 percent of production workers and 80 percent of skilled trades workers at the Buffalo Stamping plant, and 81 percent of production workers and 90 percent of skilled trades workers at MAP.
The terms of Ford’s tentative agreement with the UAW include a 25 percent general pay increase across the lifespan of the contract, as well as a multi-billion dollar investment on the automaker’s part into its current and future plants and products, plus various other concessions. Additionally, the old eight-year wage progression has been reduced to three years, while those with three or more years of service will automatically be bumped up to top pay if the deal is ratified. Cost of living adjustments will also make a return after they went away back in 2009 during the recession, and temporary employees will become full-time after 90 days of service once/if the deal if ratified, with future temp hires hitting that point in nine months.
We’ll have more on this new agreement soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford-UAW news, UAW news, and comprehensive Ford news coverage.
Comments
Thank them for their service and begin interviews for their wholesale replacement ASAP, bearing in mind how long 2023 Corsair’s launch was delayed due to the failure to assemble consistently without defect.
It’s Gung Ho! for the 21st century.
The skilled trades versus production vote results pretty much tells you what you already knew about the ‘production’ team.
GM workers are refusing the deal too. They had better be careful, or their “time off” will turn into a permanent lay off.
Dumb asses. They should be unemployed.
And blame Fain for raising expectations too high.
Close it down and move everything to Mexico, where work is appreciated. The US has a bunch of overpaid spoiled brats in the assembly lines. And they want to know why production moves offshore? Duh!
These greedy low skill miscreants must be replaced immediately! The big 3 should consider moving production to right to work states and forget about these overpaid clowns. Robots should be used in assembly wherever possible.. Enough already! Consumers will be the ones footing the bill for these outrageous salary increases…
Especially with super duties leaving the factory with mismatched headlamps.
Quality is job never with these people.
After watching a number of episodes of Justified I am beginning to understand the midset of the Kentucky Union work force. Take another vote after Deer Hunting Season and you get 70% approval.
It’s tine for auto makers to get serious about robotics and AI. Robots don’t whine and take sick leave because they “just don’t feel like working today”.
Kentucky is a Right to Work State. Fire ’em, and hire new. That being said, Ford’s management needs to be fired too. They are dragging the company down and losing their stockholders lots of money in the process. Also, $60K+ for a mid-range pickup truck is obscene.
I love comments from people who have absolutely no idea what it’s like to work in an auto plant. And some are clearly not very American. Enjoy your day.