Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it raised the pay of 8,000 US hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers union just a week before its union contract expires.
(Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it raised the pay of 8,000 US hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers union just a week before its union contract expires.
The raises, negotiated in the 2019 contract with the UAW, lift the pay of the workers by $4.33 an hour, or $9,000 a year, the automaker said in a statement. The move accelerates how quickly the workers reach the top pay rate of about $32 an hour, reducing the time from eight years to as fast as four years, Ford said.
“These pay raises are an example of Ford’s commitment to improving the lives of our hourly workforce,” Bryce Currie, Ford’s vice president, of manufacturing, said in the statement. “The negotiating teams nicknamed this deal ‘23 Jump Street’ because in 2023 a significant number of UAW-Ford team members would see a jump in pay. And we are offering further improvements in the next contract.”
The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ford’s move.
The UAW is a seeking a 46% wage increase in the current round of bargaining and rejected Ford’s initial counter proposal, which offered a 15% raise, including bonuses. The current four-year contract for Ford’s 57,000 US hourly workers expires on Sept. 14.
UAW President Shawn Fain has threatened a walkout of nearly 150,000 hourly workers at Ford, General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV if a pact isn’t reached by the deadline.
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