UAW Ratifies New Ford Contract

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 19, 2011 2:00PM

Photo Credit: Kevin Robinson

The United Autoworkers Union approved a new four-year contract with Ford Motor Co. last night. The new contract calls for the automaker to invest in American plants, promises profit-sharing checks with workers, inflation adjustment payments to workers and other bonuses while keeping a rein on labor costs.

There was some speculation UAW could have called a strike after local chapters in Detroit and Chicago voted to reject the contract last week. A UAW local in Louisville, KY voted to approve the contract and its large size guaranteed a strike would not be called.

The new agreement means Ford will add 1,100 jobs to its plan on South Torrence Avenue, bringing the plant to full operational capacity, and add another 900 jobs to its plant in Chicago Heights. Ford also pledges to invest $117 million at the Chicago assembly plant and $86 million at the Chicago Heights stamping plant.

UAW Local 588 voted to reject the offer last week because cost-of-living raises they lost in previous agreements weren't restored with the proposed contract, Ford CEO Alan Mulally's $26.3 million compensation package he earned last year and Ford's $9.3 billion in profits posted in 2009 and 2010.