DETROIT – Unionized autoworkers will be returning to work at Ford Motor Company after the automaker reached a tentative deal with the United Auto Workers on Wednesday, ending a weekslong strike against the company.
UAW leaders announced late Wednesday, Oct. 25 that a tentative contract agreement was reached with Ford that is four times more valuable than the union’s last agreement made in 2019. In addition to an agreed upon 25% wage increase -- which will be increased even more by a restored cost of living allowance -- the deal also includes a significant starting wage increase, wage increases for temporary workers, the end of wage tiers for some workers, the right to strike plant closures, and more.
UAW President Shawn Fain and Vice President Chuck Browning only shared a few key points of the deal in an announcement video posted to social media Wednesday night. The full details will be shared with all of the UAW autoworkers and the public once the union’s National Ford Council arrives in Detroit, reviews the deal, and decides whether it’s sufficient to pass onto the members for a vote.
In the meantime, the more than 16,000 autoworkers striking at Ford facilities across the U.S. will return to their jobs, officials said. Prior to Wednesday, UAW autoworkers were striking at three of Ford’s facilities, including it’s Michigan Assembly Plant, Kentucky Truck Plant, and Chicago Assembly Plant.
The tentative deal comes after the union stepped up its targeted strike approach, taking three of the Big Three’s most profitable plants offline in an attempt to put pressure on the companies and “hit them where it hurts.” The UAW on Oct. 11 called for a strike at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, in which 8,700 workers walked off from the job at the automaker’s largest plant that brings in $25 billion per year.
The UAW said Ford, upset by that strike action, had not come back with any new offers since then. Before Wednesday, the automaker maintained that it had reached its limit in terms of what it’s able to offer the union.
“We told Ford to pony up, and they did. We won things nobody thought was possible,” Fain said Wednesday. “Since the strike began, Ford put 50% more on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry.”
Autoworkers continued striking at General Motors and Stellantis on Wednesday, since tentative agreements have not yet been reached with those companies. Autoworkers walked out of both company’s most valuable plants on Monday and Tuesday the same week, frustrating carmakers as the monthslong negotiations became narrower and tenser.
If ratified, the union is expected to use its new deal with Ford to establish similar contracts with GM and Stellantis. The UAW was not practicing pattern bargaining this year, but has essentially maintained the same demands across each company, and is seeking similar agreements for its autoworkers across the board.
“We’re going back to work at Ford to keep the pressure on Stellantis and GM. The last thing they want is for Ford to get back to full capacity while they mess around and lag behind,” said UAW Vice President Chuck Browning.
Ford deal next steps
The UAW’s deal reached with Ford on Wednesday is not official, and is considered “tentative” because the union members have not yet voted on and approved the deal.
Fain laid out the following next steps that are part of the ratification process:
- Council review: The UAW National Ford Council will vote on whether to send the tentative agreement to the entire membership.
- Share agreement details: If the council approves the deal, the UAW will share the full details of the deal in a live social media video for all members and the public to review.
- Local union meetings: Regional meetings will be held for local UAW leaders to be walked through the details of the agreement.
- Member vote: The locals will hold informational meetings to review and discuss the tentative agreement, and then members will be able to cast their vote for or against ratification.
If the majority of the UAW members vote in support of the four-and-a-half year contract agreement, it will be ratified and will take effect.
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our U.S. operations.
“Ford is proud to assemble the most vehicles in America and employ the most hourly autoworkers. We are focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work and shipping our full lineup to our customers again.
“The agreement is subject to ratification by Ford’s UAW-represented employees. Consistent with the ratification process, the UAW will share details with its membership.”
Ford
GM, Stellantis talks not finished yet
As of Wednesday night, more than 29,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 autoworkers were still on strike at GM and Stellantis facilities nationwide. Workers were expected to continue striking until the companies reached tentative agreements with the union.
On Monday, Oct. 23, autoworkers walked off the job at Stellantis’ Sterling Heights Assembly plant -- which makes RAM pickup trucks -- after the union determined the company’s latest offer, made the previous Thursday, was not good enough. According to Fain, the automaker is the most profitable of the Big Three, but had the “worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and more.”
The union added GM’s biggest facility to the strike on Tuesday, citing the “shortcomings” in the company’s latest contract offer, and its $3.5 billion in third-quarter earnings that were reported Monday. About 5,000 autoworkers walked off the job at GM’s Arlington Assembly Plant in Texas, which makes some of the company’s most profitable vehicles, including the Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, and Cadillac Escalade.
The plant faced a strike earlier this month, but the company avoided that strike by making a last-minute, but major, concession: GM has agreed to include electric vehicle battery production in its national contract with the UAW, essentially unionizing those facilities in a major win for autoworkers uncertain about their place in an EV-focused future. So far, GM is the only one of the Big Three automakers to agree to such a concession.
“Despite having made $10 billion in profits in the past nine months, breaking revenue records for another consecutive quarter, and beating Wall Street expectations, GM’s latest offer fails to reward UAW members for the profits they’ve generated,” the UAW’s announcement reads, in part. “... On the heels of their previous quarter, which set ‘a post-bankruptcy record’ in terms of revenue, it is clear that GM can afford a record contract and do more to repair the harm done by years of falling real wages and declining standards across the Big Three.”
Fain reported last Friday that the union’s negotiations with GM and Stellantis had made “serious movement,” and that the companies had “put a lot more money on the table” last week. Still, the union chief said there was much more progress to be made, and that the sides were still far apart on some of the union’s demands, including cost of living allowances (COLA), job security and more.
The UAW has maintained for months that its goal is to secure a “record contract” for autoworkers amid the companies’ recent “record profits” -- and carmakers argue the latest offers they’ve made would be considered “record” offers. Last week, Fain conceded that the offers on the table are “record” contracts, but said they still aren’t good enough following concessions made by autoworkers during and after the Great Recession.
“There is more to be won,” Fain said. “One thing we’ve been hearing over and over from these companies is how they’ve offered us record contracts. They stole that line from us, by the way, and you know what? We agree. These are already record contracts, but they come at the end of decades of record decline, so it’s not enough to be the best-ever when autoworkers have gone backwards over the last two decades. That’s a very low bar.”
In a response to the UAW-Ford tentative agreement, GM released the following statement Wednesday:
“Today, General Motors provided a comprehensive offer to the UAW. We have made substantial movement in all key areas in an effort to reach a final agreement with the UAW and get our people back to work.
"The offer on the table is the most significant that GM has ever proposed to the UAW and recognizes our team members for all their dedication and contributions. The majority of our workforce will make $40.39 per hour, or roughly $84,000 a year by the end of this agreement’s term. We also continue to provide world-class health care with no out-of-pocket premiums or deductibles for seniority team members.
"It is time for us to finish this process, get our team members back to work and get on with the business of making GM the company that will win and provide great jobs in the U.S. for our people for decades to come.”
General Motors