Under UAW rules, the union leadership could declare the deal ratified since 55% of the overall workforce voted for it. That happened at Chrysler in 2011.
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Most of the earliest voting Ford factories – including the smaller Chicago Heights body panel plant – had voted in favor of the deal last week.
Samples said voting at Ford’s 22 USA plants represented by the UAW is expected to be completed later this week. Production of F-650 and F-750 trucks will continue, along with assembly of E-Series cutaways and stripped chassis.
“If you don’t have the investment, it doesn’t matter what you negotiate in wages”, said Ricke. “It’s great to experience and it’s great to be a part of the good things that are happening for Ford workers, our communities and our state”.
Samples said some workers objected to the contract language that says it will take a new worker eight years to reach top scale.
The GM deal would give veteran autoworkers their first raise in a decade. General Motors’ contract has yet to be ratified.
The proposed four-year contract also includes two 3 percent raises, as well as $1,500 inflation payments and bonuses and profit-sharing payments this year that add up to $10,250 this year alone for permanent employees.
The automaker has enjoyed robust profits this year as sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles made in UAW factories have boomed.
“I was on the fence, and now I’m going to vote no”, Mr. Schulte said.
Workers at Ford’s Buffalo Stamping Plant, represented by UAW Local 897, joined Kansas City Assembly in voting against the deal on Sunday.
Three workers interviewed by The Courier-Journal Tuesday said they question why they should accept terms that call for an eight-year path to traditional wages over a four-year contract. Davis, who said he plans to retire next year, said he’s confident the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Agreement, the pension fund run by the UAW, will remain solvent. For instance, entry level production workers now paid between $15.78 and $19.28 per hour would see their wages increase to between $17 and $22.50 per hour and would eventually earn about $29 per hour. While Pruchnicki said the bonus decreases to about $5,800 after taxes, he said the contract is fair.
Several workers interviewed by The Wall Street Journal say the labor proposal doesn’t go far enough to roll back concessions made by the union to help the No. 2 USA auto maker survive during periods of financial distress.
Results here and at other large Ford plants in MI, OH and the Chicago area through Friday are considered crucial in whether the tentative deal is ratified or will send UAW and Ford executives back to the bargaining table.
She also doubts Ford would pull investments off the bargaining table.
“The significant new investments will strengthen job security and job growth over the long-term”, UAW President Dennis Williams said in a statement.
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“That’s huge”, he said.
