The UAW and Ford have reached a
tentative deal:
The UAW and Ford’s tentative agreement creates 5,750 entry-level U.S. jobs, raises hourly wages for workers hired after September 2007 to $19.28 and pulls forward a profit-sharing payment that, when added to a $6,000 ratification bonus, will give veteran workers about $10,000 by the end of the year in addition to their regular pay.
The agreement raises the hourly wage for workers hired after 2007 to $19.28 by the end of the contract, the UAW said today in a contract summary released to reporters. Those workers currently make about $15.50 an hour. Ford will also offer buyouts of $50,000 to production workers and $100,000 to skilled-trades workers, in an attempt to open jobs for more entry-level employees.
Ford will also invest an additional $5 billion in American plants, including to manufacture the Fusion in Flat Rock, Michigan to supplement production in Mexico; additional investments will be made in Kansas, Ohio and elsewhere.
The raises for second-tier workers and the lump sum payments are higher than GM workers got, which was expected based on Ford's stronger market position and the fact that, because Ford was not part of the government bailout, its workers retain the right to strike. For that reason, their ratification of the contract is somewhat more in question.