Well, that didn’t take long.
Two days after the United Auto Workers signalled an escalation in its strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers by extending it to Stellantis Sterling Heights plant and GM’s plant in Arlington, Texas, Ford Motor Company and the UAW announced they’ve reached a tentative agreement in the 41-day old strike.
The union said Wednesday night the deal includes a 25% wage increase over four years, with an immediate 11% hike, the Detroit News reported.
It’s a step closer to resolution of the first strike ever against all three automakers. Union officials sent picketers outside Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne home around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The strike has sent more than 45,000 workers from eight assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers to picket lines. If it goes through, it would be the first agreement between the union and any of the automakers. The hope, obviously, would be that this agreement would spur new deals with Stellantis and GM, as well.
The UAW’s national council is scheduled to come to Detroit Sunday to vote on whether to send the agreement to members for a vote. If that happens, the union will host a Facebook Live presentation Sunday night to walk members through it.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who earlier had said the UAW and representatives from all three automakers should be “locked in a room” until they reached agreement, hailed the news.
“I want to congratulate the UAW and Ford for reaching an historic deal that benefits our world-class autoworkers and helps this world-class automaker succeed,” she said in a statement. “This agreement will put more money into the pockets of hardworking Michiganders while ensuring the company can continue to grow and invest right here in Michigan.
“There is a lot riding on these negotiations,” she said. “We are in a fierce competition with the rest of the world for the future of manufacturing — and all eyes are on Michigan.”
The deal also comes not long after Ford officials had said the company had “reached our limit” on improving their economic offer to the union.
Now two questions remain: Will rank-and-file members adopt the deal? Will this help get deals done with Stellantis and GM?
“Some workers have now been on strike for 40 days,” Marc Robinson, principal of consultancy MSR Strategy and a former GM internal consultant who was involved in labor negotiations, told The News. “That’s quite a lot of paychecks. Yes, they’ve gotten strike pay. It’s not the same. It’s an employment agreement. People eventually want to work. Each week, there’s sort of a trade-off between staying on strike another week or going back to work. It starts to look more favorable going back to work the longer they are out.”
A report from Reuters said the Ford contract would give UAW workers a record boost in pay and reverse some of the concessions the union agreed to in a series of contracts since 2007.
“This lays the groundwork for the next two contracts and they should fall in line fairly quickly because all three were within a narrow gap of each other,” Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told Reuters. “The strike so far has been painful for everybody and knowing what it takes to get a signed contract should bring them to the table much quicker.”
