It wasn’t too terribly long ago – late 2023, in fact – that the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached an agreement with Ford on a new master contract, which came after a six-week-long strike against The Blue Oval and its Detroit-based peers. In the meantime, the UAW has been working on trying to unionize various battery plants around the U.S., as well as those operated by some of Ford’s rivals, with the most recent being the BlueOval SK Battery Park site in Kentucky. However, the UAW has now set its sights on the next contract negotiation with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, set to take place in 2028.
“Let me be crystal clear on this. On May Day (May 1) 2028, the UAW will not settle for anything less than retiree health care and a real pension,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a recent livestreamed town hall address, according to the Detroit Free Press. “Our goal is to win retirement health care back for every single worker. Our goal is to give every worker a pension that isn’t at risk of evaporating when the market crashes.”
Currently, UAW members that started working during or prior to 2008 have a pension and retirement health care, which isn’t true of those that joined the union after that date. Those benefits went away during the recession and subsequent collapse of the automotive industry, which left many of those companies reeling financially. Now, Fain is aiming to bring back these benefits for all union workers as part of the forthcoming bargaining process.
“That’s not solidarity. That’s not justice, and it’s not the future of the UAW,” Fain said. “Ending retirement tiers will be the defining fight of 2028. Two years ago, they said the UAW was irrelevant. They said we couldn’t win. They said we couldn’t organize, and they said we couldn’t strike. Here we are, two years later, leading the labor movement.”
Comments
“… a pension that isn’t at risk of evaporating when the market crashes.” I guess that means stuffing cash in a mattress, zero risk of loss (outside of inflation). Then, no growth when the market improves. Sounds like a good plan
Maybe it is time to start syncing employee salaries, raises and benefits with success in the quality control improvement effort. At all levels. And why not go to or stay with 401K plans like almost every other entity in corporate America. You control your pension and take it with you if necessary to change jobs.
I’m an outsider to the industry but did work for Ford as a student engineer in 1970.
It looks to me like the root cause of a lot of the quality problems is due to supplier issues and the fact that the industry no longer beleives in verticle integration.
Purchasing polcies play a very big role in Ford’s mess.
Well said. Maybe one of the haters should analyze the 111 recalls and let us know how many are engineering, supplier, or employee error.
Folks are saying that he can take these new bennies out of his own pay. He’s so disliked, there’s a move afoot to oust him.
Recessions will happen from time to time. That’s no excuse to cut benefits or retirement plans. If cuts are too be made, start at the top, not at the bottom.
Ford need to keep manufacturing costs down, not increase them ( not just Ford, the other 2 domestics as well). Ford has stopped making cars, people comment about Toyota , Hyundai, Kia, Honda, etc..being able to afford making a sedan. The reason the domestics cannot is due to the higher labor cost. Thats right, all those Toyotas that are made in the US are NOT made in UAW shops. I sound anti union, I am not. I believe in the union and I buy union made product whenever I can but the union has to understand the competitive situation that the manuf. are in. They may get what he is asking for, but long term jobs can be lost. Think about it, Fusion/MKZ, Focus, Fiesta, soon the Escape, Corsair, etc.. But, Fain keeps making money for himself.
Fusion/MKZ were made in Mexico from start to finish. Never in a UAW shop.
No UAW represented plant is ever recognized in JD Power plant assembly line quality awards, part of their annual Initial Quality Study. Let that sink in.
many people would love to have ford bring back a sedan be it be a lincoln or a ford they were well liked cars
Sounds like time for more robots and more automated assembly. This is capitalism, if you want to force your way for benefits, wages, and a pension for entry level jobs like assembly line work expect the company to look for ways to do without you. If you want more money start and run your own business. When a certain pay scale becomes a “right” quality and performance go out the window.
Yeah that sounds exactly like what the world needs more of!
Trapped in His own sunshine…
Here comes even higher priced vehicles! Get em before 2028, because if they haven’t already gone up even more between now and then, they’ll for sure be unaffordable by then. Current inflation made Ford vehicles unaffordable, imagine what inflation will be like in 2 1/2 years!?!
It’s interesting how unions work as multiple entities within themselves! What’s the point if you’re not receiving full member benefits!