Officials at Ford see the template set by GM and Fiat Chrysler as being more generous than expected, and have told UAW officials that an agreement patterned off its rivals’ deals will likely shift a big portion of the auto maker’s investment plans away from USA factories, people directly involved in these negotiations said.
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Under the new contract, about 57,200 GM hourly workers will receive $8,000 signing bonuses and wage increases. The contract gives senior workers two 3 percent wage increases during the contract term and two lump sum payments of 4 percent of annual pay.
The settlement at Ford comes after the UAW reached a deal with GM that was richer than the contract it negotiated with smaller and less profitable Fiat Chrysler Automobiles last month.
The National Ford Conference will meet at 10 a.m. Monday in Detroit to discuss the proposed tentative deal.
On Friday, workers at GM’s engine plant in Tonawanda, New York passed the new contract by a narrow 51 percent.
There are between three and four production workers for every skilled trades job, and a majority of production workers are voting yes.
According to The Detroit News, over 80 percent of GM’s 52,600 hourly employees have had a chance to look over and vote upon the agreement, including those in Lordstown Assembly in Ohio, and Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Michigan. It also wants to expand healthcare to temporary workers.
In addition, 65 percent of 1,400 workers at an adjacent parts stamping plant also voted in favor, said local President Robert Morales. It provided ratification bonuses of $3,000 to workers hired after 2007 and $4,000 to those hired before then.
GM now pays recent hires around $15.78 per hour. At one time, employees were unsure if they would ever work for GM again or if the Spring Hill Manufacturing Plant would close.
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Raises, bonuses and GM’s commitment to plant upgrades seemed to brighten the future for workers. “I think they could have done a lot better. We didn’t get everything we proposed, and we never get everything we propose, however our worldwide bargaining team bargains for the greater good of all”. “No. We can only get so much without driving them over the border”.
