FORD Union Workers agree to concessions

by Guest Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:08 pm

A third United Auto Workers local representing Ford Motor Co. employees approved concessions that freeze their pay, suspend a controversial program that pays workers even when they are laid off and allow Ford to change the way it contributes to a massive retiree health care fund.

Local 3000, which represent 3,200 workers in Flat Rock, approved the vote by a 51 percent margin, according to local UAW officials, who released the results Tuesday. The Flat Rock plant is a joint venture between Ford and Mazda Motor Corp. called AutoAlliance International Inc. The workers produce the Ford Mustang and the Mazda 6.

Three separate UAW locals, representing in total about 9,300 Ford workers, have approved the amendments to the national labor contract negotiated in 2007. A simple majority of Ford's 42,000 UAW-represented employees must ratify the agreement. The deadline to complete the vote is March 9. Voting continues throughout the week.

The changes to the national contract allow Ford to save billions and make the struggling automaker more competitive with its foreign rivals, analysts contend.

It will allow Ford to cover half of its payments into a UAW-run trust to cover retiree health care with company stock instead of cash -- a move that would also dramatically dilute investors' equity in the company.

The deal does not cut base wages, but workers are being asked to give up cost-of-living pay increases, as well as performance bonuses that were worth $500 last year and an annual Christmas bonus worth $600.

It suspends the controversial jobs bank program, which pays workers even when they are laid off, but guarantees at least partial pay for up to two years for those with the most seniority. The pact also would allow Ford to change the way that skilled-trades work is performed at some plants. That is a significant concession, and one that could go a long way toward closing the cost-competitiveness gap with foreign automakers, said David Cole, the chairman of the Center for Automotive Research.

While Ford has not asked for government aid, it has used the deep recession in the global auto industry to seek concessions from the union.