LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Ford Motor Co. has made significant progress in reaching a deal with the United Auto Workers union, sparing the company from an escalation in the union's week-old strike.
The UAW will add 38 parts distribution centers across 20 states owned by General Motors and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV to the strike that began Sept. 15, UAW President Shawn Fain said Frkday.
But Ford has made significant concessions to the union, including restoring automatic inflation adjustments to autoworker wages, a benefit the UAW gave up amid the Great Recession in 2009.
In a livestream Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain did not address other outstanding issues at Ford, such as wages and retirement compensation.
"We're not done at Ford," he said. "We still have serious issues to work through."
Ford continues to work toward an agreement with the union, the company said in a statement following Fain's announcement.
"Our focus is on negotiating a deal that rewards our employees, allows for the continuation of Ford's unique position as the most American automaker and enables Ford to invest and grow," the company said. "We have more work ahead of us before we can reach an agreement."
In bargaining, the union is pointing to the carmakers' huge recent profits as it seeks wage increases of about 36% over four years. The companies have offered a little over half that amount. The UAW has other demands, including a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay and a restoration of traditional pension plans for newer workers.
The strike began Sept. 15 when UAW workers walked off the job at three assembly plants in Wentzville, Missouri, Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. The incremental strategy means only about 13,000 of the union's 146,000 hourly workers are on strike so far.
Friday's escalation will add many more to the picket line at GM and Stellantis. But even with Friday's expansion, the strikes involve only a little over 10% of the UAW's 146,000 members. That will make the union's $825 million strike fund last longer, as most members will keep working under the expired contract and pay into the fund. However, the longer the strike lasts, the greater the risk of dissension between workers who will keep collecting full paychecks and those getting $500 a week from the union.
Deutsche Bank analysts estimated Friday that GM, Ford and Stellantis have lost production of more than 16,000 vehicles since the strike started last week at a Ford assembly plant near Detroit, a GM factory in Wentzville, Missouri, and a Jeep plant run by Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio. Anderson Economic Group, a consulting firm in Michigan that tracks the industry, estimated Friday that the three big automakers have suffered economic losses of more than $1.6 billion.
The carmakers and some of their suppliers have laid off about 6,000 workers in moves they say are related to the strike. GM shut down a factory in Kansas that relies on parts stamped at the Wentzville plant.
Louisville maintains the biggest concentration of Ford assembly plant workers, with some 12,000 hourly employees between Kentucky Truck Plant and Louisville Assembly Plant.
The lack of cost-of-living increases has been particularly caustic for autoworkers amid soaring inflation in 2021 and 2022.
"Many people said this couldn't be done. And we just did it," Fain said, referencing Ford's agreement to restore inflation protection for wages.
Fain said other wins at Ford include an enhanced profit-sharing formula that will boost annual worker bonuses by about 13%, and the extension of the profit-sharing bonuses to low-ranking "temp" workers after 90 days of employment by Ford.
"We do want to recognize that Ford is showing that they're serious about reaching a deal," Fain said. "At GM and Stellantis, it's a different story."
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