(Reuters) – The United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a tentative labor deal on Wednesday with Ford Motor, the first of Detroit’s Big Three car manufacturers to negotiate a settlement to strikes joined by 45,000 workers since mid-September.
Following are reactions to the tentative deal:
HARLEY SHAIKEN, LABOR PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
“We still have to see some of the details but it is a major achievement for the union.”
“I think it is a victory that will ultimately affect and improve the lives of all working Americans. This is a set of negotiations, historically, where gains made in Detroit would be viewed and adapted by many other industries across the economy. It increases purchasing power, it is a major step toward wages matching the losses of inflation, and that puts purchasing power into the economy, which fuels economic growth.”
TIM PIECHOWSKI, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, ACR ALPINE CAPITAL RESEARCH
“I think this will be a positive for the stocks from go forward basis. I do think for the industry, while the expenses of these labor agreements will be significant, the reality is with where the stocks are trading for these companies, they are implying something that’s worse than the agreements that have been reached at this point.”
DANIEL IVES, ANALYST AT WEDBUSH SECURITIES
“It’s a relief for investors that this UAW nightmare is now over for Ford. I think it’s been an albatross for Farley as well as Detroit and now that Ford got a deal done we would expect GM and Stellantis to be the next dominoes to fall over the next week. Now there is pressure on GM and Stellantis to get a deal done in the next 72 hours.”
“I think investors are going to view this as less onerous than the worst case scenario that they were staring at six to seven weeks ago.”
SAM FIORANI, VP OF GLOBAL VEHICLE FORECASTING, AUTOFORECAST SOLUTIONS
“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.”
“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.”
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT
“I applaud the UAW and Ford for coming together after a hard fought, good faith negotiation and reaching a historic tentative agreement tonight. This tentative agreement provides a record raise to auto workers who have sacrificed so much to ensure our iconic Big Three companies can still lead the world in quality and innovation…
“Critical to building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, instead of from the top down, is worker power. It’s showing how collective bargaining works by providing workers a seat at the table and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer’s success. This tentative agreement is a testament to the power of employers and employees coming together to work out their differences at the bargaining table in a manner that helps businesses succeed while helping workers secure pay and benefits they can raise a family on and retire with dignity and respect.”
JEFFREY SCHARF, CHAIRMAN, ACT TWO INVESTORS, FORMER GM HOLDER, ON UAW AND CHIEF SHAWN FAIN
“If they can use this as a lever to organize Tesla and companies like that, he’s brilliant. If they fail to organize the other companies and the differential causes jobs to go out of Detroit and to the other companies, then he’s a failure. He won the battle, but whether he wins the war or not, which is to have more union workers getting paid more, is unclear. That’s what I would be more worried about if I was a young auto worker. I would worry about whether this is going to cost me my job in the long-term.”
GENERAL MOTORS STATEMENT
“We are working constructively with the UAW to reach a tentative agreement as soon as possible.”
STELLANTIS STATEMENT
“We remain committed to working toward a tentative agreement that gets everyone back to work as soon as possible.”
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy, David Shepardson and Joe White; Editing by Peter Henderson and Christopher Cushing)
