Correspondent in Washington
Will the approximately 20,000 striking Ford workers in the United States agree to return to work immediately, as their union demands? Will they be satisfied with a 25% salary increase spread over four and a half years, including 11% from the first year? It’s been almost six weeks since their union paralyzed around forty sites, including eight vehicle assembly plants, at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis to demand a 40% increase…
The United Auto Workers (UAW) considers it necessary to lift the strike pickets, before its national body ratifies a surprise agreement obtained Wednesday evening with the number two American automobile manufacturer. It is only after this ratification scheduled in Detroit on Sunday that the workers will be able to vote themselves and accept the terms of the new contract which covers a period of four years.
The UAW is the only assembly line union for General Motors (GM), Ford and Stellantis in the United States. It has a monopoly on hiring and negotiating working conditions. You cannot work on a chain of the three historic American manufacturers if you do not pay monthly contributions to the UAW.
Shawn Fain, the new and combative president of the union, argues that the immediate resumption of work, even before the ratification of the agreement, is the best way to force the hand of GM and Stellantis, also hit since September 15 by a strike of 25,000 of their workers. “We’re going back to work at Ford to keep the pressure on Stellantis and GM…the last thing these two want is for Ford to return to work at full capacity while they continue to act stupid and lag behind » summarizes Chuck Browning, the UAW negotiator for Ford.
“We told Ford to go all out and they did…We won things that no one thought possible,” Shawn Fain proudly proclaims in a video message to the 57,000 Ford workers he represents. . Jim Farley, boss of Ford, says he is happy with the outcome of an agreement and wants to focus on the immediate return to work, while the strike continues at GM and Stellantis.
Traditionally, the UAW chooses one of three manufacturers to negotiate its four-and-a-half-year labor contract. If necessary, the manufacturer concerned is struck by a strike. Once an agreement is reached, the other two adapt their own contract to the terms of the first. Shawn Fain rejected this approach to launch in mid-September the first simultaneous strike among the “Big Three” in the union’s 88 years of existence. Over the past six weeks, he has ratcheted up the pressure by paralyzing more and more key factories at GM, Ford and Stellantis in order to block production of vehicles where their margins are highest.
The strike at Ford prevented the production of 73,000 vehicles and generated losses close to a billion dollars, according to analysts. Ford also had to put 3,000 workers on technical unemployment, on sites spared from the strike, since they no longer had the parts to continue working.
The UAW obtained a $5,000 bonus from Ford for workers upon ratification of the agreement. The double salary scale, implemented in 2009, following the bankruptcy filing of GM and Chrysler (now taken over by Stellantis) is not completely abandoned as the union wanted. On the other hand, new Ford recruits will be able to benefit from the best scale after three years of work and no longer eight. An automatic increase formula to cover changes in the cost of living is once again incorporated into the contract. The UAW also obtains the right to strike in the event of a decision to close a factory. To date, GM and Stellantis have refused this concession. For the moment, no details of the agreement are given regarding the status of future workers at the electric vehicle battery factories which are still under construction.
