Ford and UAW Reach Tentative Deal

Dustin stockton
by Dustin stockton

Bloomberg is reporting that a deal between Ford and the UAW has been reached. The deal is said to include a ban on most strikes, and wage freezes for new employees. In short, most of what it offered the automakers it holds equity stakes in. Of course, the deal still has to be approved by plant-level UAW leadership which tends to have a harder time understanding that not giving Ford these concessions makes the UAW look like its strangling a competitor to the OEMs it owns. “There’s a lot of sentiment against concessions inside the plant,” explains one Dearborn-based union. This despite the fact that Ford still won’t achieve parity with GM and Chrysler.

Cuts to retiree vision coverage won’t take place as they did at GM and Chrysler, and Ford is having to offer more work at its Sterling plant and $1,000 bonuses for meeting quality goals to get the UAW’s consent. After all, Ford had the nerve not to declare bankruptcy (no thanks to the UAW), so why should the UAW treat them the same as the companies they own stakes in? Meanwhile, Ford’s Alan Mullaly and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger are putting their penny-chiseling skills to work for good, having committed to raising $100m for the March Of Dimes. Which will be endearingly ironic, considering how badly both Ford and Gettelfinger’s VEBA account could use that kind of cash right now.

Dustin stockton
Dustin stockton

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  • Psknapp Psknapp on Oct 13, 2009

    That's a start. Now let's see how the vote goes. Though in this economy, I can't imagine the backlash if they don't approve it.

  • MMH MMH on Oct 13, 2009

    When did Bryant Gumbel take a job with Ford?

  • Marty Marty on Oct 15, 2009

    "Ironic" isn't the word I would use--- how about "breach of fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders and debt holders"? Yeah, that's better. I don't know what the vision coverage is worth, maybe it's small beer, but that plus the bonuses set Ford at a higher compensation level than GM or Chrysler and just confirm the suspicion that the UAW doesn't see a problem until a company is ready to file for Chapter 11, in fact, they want to squeeze 'em until the pips squeek because that's what you do to your employer... I'm not distinguishing between the rank and file and the leadership, I assume the leadership knows its members, so it's all of them. I cannot imagine ever buying from GM or Chrysler again, and while I would like to support Ford, buying a Ford product built with UAW labor (US or Canada) causes me gas pains. Volvo, maybe?

  • FleetofWheel FleetofWheel on Oct 15, 2009

    Too many companies lose focus on their primary mission of selling a product or service and blab on about the charities they sponsor. Unfortunately, a lot of that is effective PR because they know that soccer moms will base their buying decisions in part on whatever cause is touted on the cookie wrapper or 'green' trash bags. Ford should focus on being a profitable car company. The employees and customers are already totality free to donate any amount of their own money on their own time.

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