News

Actions

What benefits are in the 'historic' UAW tentative agreement with Ford?

Posted at 9:15 PM, Oct 25, 2023
and last updated 2023-10-25 21:21:12-04

The United Auto Workers union said it reached a historic tentative agreement with Ford on Wednesday night after 40 days of a strike against the Big Three automakers.

"We have said that record profits mean record contracts, and UAW family, our Stand Up Strike has delivered," UAW President Shawn Fain said in an update.

Related: What are the next steps after the UAW reached a tentative agreement with Ford?

“We have won the most lucrative agreement, per member, since Walter Reuther was a president,” UAW Vice President Chuck Browning added in the video.

Our union has united in a way we haven’t seen in years. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, our member came together to tell the big 3 that record profits mean a record contract.

According to the union, the agreement with Ford has a value of gains that are worth more than four times the value of gains in the 2019 agreement.

The union said the agreement includes a 25% wage increase over the life of the agreement and an 11% raise at the ratification of the contract.

With the cost-of-living adjustment, the UAW said they expect the top wage earners will increase by about 33% to more than $40 per hour, and the starting wages to increase by about 68%.

The union also said that temp workers will see raises of over 150% over the life of the contract, and some lower-tier workers at Sterling Axle and Rawsonville will get up to an 85% raise immediately.

According to the UAW, they won back things they have lost over the years including the pre-2009 cost-of-living adjustment, a three-year wage progression, killing wage tiers, adding the pension multiplier and provided more for retirement for current retirees, members with pensions and members with 401Ks.

Also, they said they have earned the right to strike over plant closures for the first time ever.