DETROIT — With a contract deadline looming Monday, a top United Auto Workers official said he is “very determined” to get raises for veteran workers at Ford who haven’t received an hourly pay increase in almost a decade.
“We’re going to make it happen because they’re making plenty of money,” Jimmy Settles, the UAW vice president leading contract talks at Ford, said in a video posted Friday on the union’s Ford Department Facebook page. He added that “now it’s our time and it’s just how much.”
The UAW’s contract, covering more than 140,000 workers at Ford, General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. unit, expires Sept. 14. After years of no raises for some workers and lower wages and benefits for others, the union has said it’s payback time for helping the automakers survive.
Settles also said Ford is is “one of the most decent companies to negotiate with.”
“We’ll find some common ground somewhere to make certain that we can continue the prosperity of the company and to make certain we have prosperity here in America, which means growing more jobs,” he said. “But there’s a happy medium that we hope to get to.” Ford has complained that its labor costs have climbed above those of its domestic competitors because it isn’t subject to same wage system that enabled the Detroit Three automakers to hire 39,150 workers in the past four years.
Ford’s average labor cost, including benefits, is about $57 an hour, or $10 more than at the U.S. operations of Fiat Chrysler or Toyota and $2 more than at GM, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said last week he is “optimistic” a settlement can be reached with the union.
With a contract deadline looming Monday, a top United Auto Workers official said he is “very determined” to get raises for veteran workers at Ford Motor Co. who haven’t received an hourly pay increase in a decade.
“We’re going to make it happen because they’re making plenty of money,” Jimmy Settles, a UAW vice president who is leading contract talks at Ford, said in a video posted on the union’s Ford Department’s Facebook page. He added that “now it’s our time and it’s just how much.”
The UAW is under a Sept. 14 deadline to negotiate contracts for more than 140,000 workers at Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. unit. After a decade of no raises for some workers and lower wages and benefits for others, the union has said it’s payback time for helping the automakers survive.
Settles also said Ford is is “one of the most decent companies to negotiate with.”
“We’ll find some common ground somewhere to make certain that we can continue the prosperity of the company and to make certain we have prosperity here in America, which means growing more jobs,” he said. “But there’s a happy medium that we hope to get to.” Ford has complained that its labor costs have climbed above those of its domestic competitors because it isn’t subject to same wage system that enabled the Detroit Three automakers to hire 39,150 workers in the past four years.
Ford’s average labor cost, including benefits, is about $57 an hour, or $10 more than at the U.S. operations of Fiat Chrysler or Toyota Motor Corp. and $2 more than at GM, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said last week he is “optimistic” a settlement can be reached with the union.
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