Key Takeaways
- UAW announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Company.
- The deal, if ratified, could give a record pay boost of 25% to UAW member employees, and up to 150% hike for temporary employees.
- Ford said the focus was now to get 20,000 workers back to work at the Kentucky Truck Plant, and the assembly plants in Michigan and Chicago.
- Analysts say strike action against Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ automakers has led to more than $9.3 billion in economic losses.
United Auto Workers (UAW) announced that it has reached a “tentative agreement” with automaker Ford Motor Co. (F), potentially bringing an end to a six-week strike action.
Shawn Fain, UAW President, and Vice President Chuck Browning announced the deal on X, formerly Twitter. Fain said the contract valid through 2028 would provide a record pay boost of 25% to UAW member employees. Temporary workers, which the union said have been “exploited” by the Big Three, would see raises of 150%, with some workers receiving an 85% hike immediately upon ratification.
With top wages rising by roughly a third to $40 an hour and starting wages expected to go up by about 68% to $28 an hour, the executives said it was the “most lucrative agreement” in decades.
The deal still needs approval by union leaders and members but would mark the first settlement of strikes by 45,000 workers against General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis (STLA) which began on Sept. 15. Ford’s agreement, scheduled to expire on April 30, 2028, would also set a bargaining standard for the UAW against the remaining firms.
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our U.S. operations,” Ford CEO and President Jim Farley confirmed in a statement. The company said it was “focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant, and Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work.”
The UAW strike action against Detroit’s largest automakers has led to economic losses of more than $9.3 billion, according to data from Anderson Economic Group, LLC.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives took to X to celebrate the deal. “Ford and UAW finally get a deal done after a nightmare 40 days,” he said, adding that GM and Stellantis were likely the “next dominoes to fall,” with a possible deal over the next week.