BREAKING: Ford and UAW reach tentative agreement on labor contract

Ford/UAW Contract Signing Ceremony

FoMoCo announced today that it has reached a tentative agreement on additional modifications to the 2007 UAW/Ford national labor contract, a move that could help Ford improve its current and long-term competitiveness in the United States.

“The tentative agreement, which covers approximately 41,000 UAW-represented employees in the United States, is subject to ratification by the active UAW-Ford membership,” said Joe Hinrichs, group vice president, Global Manufacturing and Labor Affairs at Ford. “We will not discuss details of the agreement until after the ratification process is complete.”

Ford originally started the talks with the UAW on Aug. 25 and addressed areas where its labor contract differs from rivals GM and Chrysler.

Sources told The Detroit News that the UAW has agreed in principle to freeze entry level wages, limit the union’s right to strike and extend the production team model.” In exchange, FoMoCo will pay $1,000 bonus to workers in March as a reward for recent quality gains and will make additional product commitments to U.S. factories to add more jobs.

– By: Stephen Calogera