Ford workers are said to vote no on contract changes
Published: November 1, 2009
DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. workers have overwhelmingly rejected contract changes that would have allowed the automaker to cut labor costs, a source said yesterday. The rejection leaves Ford at a disadvantage to its Detroit rivals as it continues its struggle to return to profitability.
The United Auto Workers union had given local unions until tomorrow to complete voting. But a person briefed on the voting said yesterday that the contract changes have been rejected by large margins. The person asked not to be named because the UAW hasn't announced the results yet.
The UAW and Ford agreed to the contract changes several weeks ago, but Ford workers needed to ratify them. Ford has 41,000 UAW-represented workers.
Two large union locals in Kentucky and Ford's home city of Dearborn rejected the contract Friday, sealing its fate. Those unions together represent 13,000 Ford workers. Exact tallies weren't available, but at least 12 UAW locals representing about 27,500 workers so far have vetoed the deal, many overwhelmingly. Only about four locals with a total of 7,000 members favored the pact.
Ford sought the deal to bring its labor costs in line with Detroit rivals Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co., both of which won concessions from the union as they headed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Under pattern bargaining, the three automakers usually match pay, benefits and other contract provisions.
But workers weren't convinced they should make more concessions, since Ford avoided bankruptcy and is considered healthier than its rivals. At least two Wall Street analysts are predicting that Ford could report a profit tomorrow when it announces third-quarter earnings.
Reader Reactions
Jack… you’re wrong. In the Obama regime, business is in business first for the glory of the state and Our Dear Leader. If it can make profit after absorbing the anti-business changes Our Dear Leader institutes to make sure the high school dropout sittin on the corner drinkin ripple is on a par with the Harvard-educated CEO, then the business can begin considering how to make a profit.
There is no way the UAW is going to allow its whippin boys—uh, I mean, members—to sign a contract with Ford. They already have large pieces of the other two US automakers thanks to President Useless. They plan to hold out until Useless makes Ford give up part of its company to them.
Flag Comment Posted by dubiousthoughts on November 01, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Blame the worker always, right? When did a person on the assembly line make a decision that caused the company to suffer?
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HELLOOOOOO—they just did.
Posted by dubiousthoughts on November 01, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Blame the worker always, right? When did a person on the assembly line make a decision that caused the company to suffer?
Have you ever worked for a unionized manufacturing company? I have. The minute the workers join a form a union that is the beginning of the end of the company. So yes the worker on the assembly line can and do make decisions that harm the company.
No company is in business but for one goal. To produce a product or service and make a profit. Workers sell their service to the company in order to make a paycheck. When the cost of this service or the insane work restrictions by unions become to great the job disappears.
I stll say it would be better to make less than $26/hr than not have a job and benefits at all. These people cannot expect other citizens to fund their unemployment that was in part their fault.
Blame the worker always, right? When did a person on the assembly line make a decision that caused the company to suffer? Yet the worker is always asked to give back pay? Insane! Innovate the product, sell the product! That is how you maintain and grow. The big 3 seemed to have lost sight of that, making poor decision, one after the other, and the brunt of the burden always falls on the worker.
I guess the UAW clowns have a short memory as to the fate of the closed Ford plants like in Norfolk. They apparently would rather not have a job than to cooperate with Ford to maximize productivity. Oh my bad! The UAW doesn’t know what productivity means.
I would have to agree with J-Reb.
The UAW’s primary purpose is to kill what’s left of the American Auto Industry. This is Ford’s reward for managing itself better than GM or Chrysler. They should have gone bankrupt instead; it’s the only way to bargain effectively with a union which has a death wish.
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