“Working with our UAW partners, we have reached a tentative agreement for the next four years for our employees and our business”, according to a statement from John Fleming, executive vice present of global manufacturing and labor affairs at Ford.
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Members of UAW local 167, which represents workers at the General Motors Component plant in Wyoming, have voted to reject the company’s latest contract proposal.
As per the new agreement, GM workers with four or more years of experience will be paid $29 hourly wage within four years compared to wages between $22.50 and $28 in four years for workers with experience less than four years.
In accordance with the UAW’s Constitution and applicable administrative guidance, the union will hold meetings with its UAW-GM Skilled Trades membership at each worksite over the next several days to find out why they rejected the deal. Fiat Chrysler workers approved the contract in October.
Should the contract be approved, entry-level workers would be moved onto the same health care plan as veteran employees in January 2016, as well as an $8,000 signing bonus for all full-time workers and $2,000 for temps. The contract covers 52,700 Ford UAW members.
That would mean a few long-time employees would get pay raises for the first time in a decade.
Negotiators for Ford Motor Co F.N continued to meet with UAW representatives but had not begun discussions on the final economic aspects of a contract, said people familiar with the talks.
A strike against GM would lead to an estimated loss of revenue of $243 million per work day, or $26 million in daily operating profits. Earlier this week, workers at the GM Arlington plant voted against ratification, joining at least four other GM plants that refused to accept the four-year contract. But nearly 60 percent of skilled trades workers voted no. Workers at GM’s Defiance Castings Operations were to vote this week. Details will not be released until the NFC finalizes and votes to approve. Skilled tradespeople are also ineligible for a $60,000 retirement incentive being offered to regular production workers if they elect tor retire early next year.
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Under the unratified contract, new hires would start at $17 an hour and see wage increases each year through the eighth year of employment, when their wage will reach almost $30.
