DETROIT, Nov. 9 (UPI) — United Auto Workers leaders signed off Monday on a proposed new contract with Ford that will guarantee 8,500 jobs. The contract now goes to a vote by union members, the union said.
A tentative deal was reached Friday between union leaders and Ford on a proposed four-year contract that would include $30,000 in added wages and bonuses and the creation or securing of 8,500 jobs. If approved, the deal would also help Ford usher in the return of the popular Ranger pickup and Bronco four-wheel drive models.
The recommendation Monday came from union leaders across the United States who gathered in Detroit to discuss the deal. A vote will be taken by Ford’s 52,900 hourly workers in the United States and no timeline has been given for when the vote might come, but the voting process is expected to take at least a week.
“It is one of the richest agreements in the history of UAW-Ford,” said UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles when he announced the new pact Friday. He and UAW President Dennis Williams told workers in a letter that the deal, if ratified, would keep jobs from moving to Mexico.
Also included in the deal is a $10,000 signing bonus, profit sharing, a $1,500 annual inflation protection bonus, a $250 annual competitiveness bonus as an incentive, and an overall increase of $32,513 in the average worker’s pay over the four-year life of the contract.
Both the Ranger and Bronco models would be built at the company’s Michigan Assembly Plant, replacing the soon-to-be-discontinued Focus and C-Max models. Ranger production is expected to begin in 2018 and Bronco production by 2020.
The deal with Ford will be the third national contract UAW has reached with the big three automakers in Detroit this year. A deal with Fiat Chrysler was ratified last month, but a deal with General Motors was shot down by the skilled trades workers.
“Jimmy Settles is a seasoned negotiator,” said Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research. “He knows what will pass and what members want. He’s got respect and understands that the priorities are jobs.”
