The United Auto Workers and Ford reached a tentative national labor agreement early Saturday morning around 3:20 a.m. The two parties have not yet released details of the deal, but insider reports claim Ford has agreed to outsource fewer jobs.
“Our bargaining committee came through for our active and retired members,” said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. “Our team is proud of each and every negotiator because they have encouraged Ford to invest in product and people while addressing the economic needs of our active and retired members.”
“We face enormous challenges – and we also have enormous potential,” said UAW Vice President Bob King, who directs the union’s National Ford Department. “Our goals for this contract were to win new product and investment, to enhance job security and protect seniority – and we made progress in all these areas.”
The UAW’s recent deal with Chrysler includes a so-called two-tier system where longtime employees who leave non-production jobs will be replaced with new workers who earn $14 an hour instead of $28, according to Automotive News.
Ford group vice president of Human Resources and Labor Affairs, Joe Laymon, said agreement is subject to ratification by UAW members, and “we will not discuss the specifics of the tentative agreement until after it becomes final.”
He said the agreement includes a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent retiree health care trust.
11/03, 1:09 PM
posted by:
mujician
Let’m go. To hell with the UAW. If they held their workforce accountable for the quality of their work I would feel the opposite. On top of the way they conduct their business going from one company to another and then back with a better deal for them but not the companies.
11/03, 2:26 PM
posted by:
sharpie
What a farce!
11/03, 2:33 PM
posted by:
Scott Kempton
Mujician—how much actual knowledge do you have about quality statistics for Ford? I’m an enthusiast, so I look pretty closely at cars, and I honestly never see any glaring quality issues. If there are any issues with long-term durability, I suspect that’s something for the engineering departments to address—not the folks who assemble the cars and trucks.
11/03, 4:29 PM
posted by:
mujician
Sorry let me clarify. I didn’t mean the quality in the products that are produced (even though quality has gone up on vehicles being assembled in Mexico vs. US). But quality of the workforce it’s self. A large majority of these people working for unions are lazy and?or incompitant. Iknow none of them will admit it, and they get very offended when others tell them that. But it’s a fact. Hell in some ways I can’t blame them. If I was told that I was going to get payed for sure I would slack off too. But this hurts the companies they work for and their co-workers.
11/03, 7:35 PM
posted by:
SR
I wish I had all the job protections of the UAW. WTF. What a bunch of overpaid, under-worked, under-skilled, worthless cry babies. The era of the union is over. The ****ing UAW is going to kill American car companies.
11/03, 8:26 PM
posted by:
Jason
SR, American car companies are already dead, this is just the UAW picking at the remaining corpse like a pack of vultures.
11/04, 1:55 AM
posted by:
Ian
“We face enormous challenges – and we also have enormous potential,”
couldn’t have said it better myself.
11/04, 9:55 AM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
I hope this new deal makes it easier for the company to fire the few workers who set the stereotypes y’all subscribe to.
11/04, 7:07 PM
posted by:
CA36GTP
It must be awesome to be retired and still have a group of hacks fighting to give you more money you don’t deserve.
11/04, 10:10 PM
posted by:
autonutt
At this point, Ford’s only hope is to privatize (buy back all their stock) and force the union out without facing stockholder repercussions. There is no way Ford can survive by reducing their production outsourcing to cheaper labor sources, one of the key points of this bad deal.
11/05, 10:29 AM
posted by:
planet_drive
I just can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy a Ford these days. My old boss just got a new F150 and after only 3 months the rear brakes seized, after that the washer fluid pump stopped working, than his check engine light came on after only 8000 miles (faulty o2 sensor). When the truck reached 15000, he needed new front bearings, and a new belt. This it the bad quality that makes Ford in such big trouble. And now with all these labor troubles, the future for Ford is very bleak.
11/05, 2:57 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
planetdrive: please go away
11/06, 8:59 AM
posted by:
mujician
plante drive, was it because the vehicle was faulty or probably because your boss is excessively hard on his pickup? You do have to account for these types of questions when assuming that a vehicle has poor build quality. By the way did you know that the MKZ, Mark LT, Mustang, Milan, Miata(MX-5), etc. all have the highest ranking for their segments in initial quality, and that the F150, Fusion, Grand Marquis, Towncar, Ranger, etc. are very close to the top in their segments?
11/06, 10:45 AM
posted by:
planet_drive
^Honestly he is the least aggresive driver I know and he takes very good care of all the cars he owns. He also has a 91 nissan pickup 4cyl with over 400k with original motor and 5 speed tranny. All the stuff that went wrong on his truck are things that you have no control over, such as the washer pump failing and premature wear of the O2 sensor. Its just bad quality. You have to understand that products coming from a company in crisis will suffer greatly in quality and durability due to desperate cost saving measures. Those cars you mentioned recieving high quality marks is very inacurate since it only takes into consideration the first 3 month of ownership. A true measure of quality is seen after 5 years of ownership.
11/06, 12:29 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
or after 15 years of ownership. My ‘83 Cavalier stopped running when I wrecked it in ‘98. And I’ve never coddled a car.
Sold a tempo with 120K+ on it. First car i ever sold, and I’d already owned a Toyota and a Honda.