Ford and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative labor deal, according to the union. It is an important first step in ending the union’s unprecedented strike against three major US automakers.
“Our Stand Up strike has delivered,” UAW president Shawn Fain declared in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Ford knew what was coming for them on Wednesday if we didn’t get a deal. That was checkmate,” Fain added.
Ford said in a statement it was “pleased to have reached a tentative agreement.”
“Ford is proud to assemble the most vehicles in America and employ the most hourly autoworkers,” the company said. “We are focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work and shipping our full lineup to our customers again.”
The agreement will not go into effect until the 57,000 UAW rank-and-file members at Ford ratify the deal, a process that is likely to take more than a week. But the 16,600 UAW members who have been on strike will be returning to work “soon,” before the ratification process is complete, said UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, the union’s lead negotiator with Ford.
“Like everything we’ve done in this stand-up strike, this is a strategic move,” said Browning in a recorded message he had with Fain. “We’re going back to work at Ford to keep the pressure on Stellantis and GM. The last thing they want is for Ford to get back to full capacity while they mess around and lag behind.”
Browning did not give details of when workers would return to work, saying only that it would be “soon.” It is unusual for the union to have members go back to work before the completion of the ratification process.
The deal would give UAW members an immediate 11% pay increase and pay increases starting at 25% over the next four-and-a-half years, until the tentative contract is set to expire in early 2028. It also returns a cost-of-living adjustment to the contract that will protect workers from rising prices. When the cost-of-living adjustment is combined with the guaranteed pay increases, workers are expected to see pay increases of 30% or more during the life of the contract.
The union has been on strike against all three automakers since September 15, the first time in its history that it has staged a simultaneous strike against the nation’s three unionized automakers. But it has not shut down all the operations at any of the automakers, instead staging targeted strikes against specific plants at all three.
There are currently 16,600 UAW members on strike at three Ford assembly plants, including its largest, the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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