UAW president offers grim assessment of where bargaining stands with Detroit’s big 3

UAW President Shawn Fain offered a grim assessment of where bargaining stands with the Detroit three in an address to the membership Thursday night.

“One thing I want to tell you is this trash can is overflowing with the bull**** that the big three continue to peddle,” said Fain.

Fain says the UAW filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Stellantis and General Motors because the union hasn’t received any counter proposals to its list of demands it gave all three automakers four weeks ago.

The UAW has heard back from Ford.

“Ford’s wage proposals not only fail to meet our needs, it insults our very worth,” Fain said.

He says Ford is offering a 9% raise throughout the contract. The UAW is looking for a 46% increase, among many other demands, like ending the two-tier wage system.

The current contract expires on Sept. 14, and Fain has made it clear he views that as a hard deadline, not as he calls it, a “reference point”.

He says the union’s goal is not to strike, but it will.

“If we want higher wages, better benefits, and a better future for ourselves and our families, then we are going to have to fight like hell to win,” Fain said.

“Ford employs the most UAW workers and is the most American automaker in terms of vehicles assembled and vehicles exported from the U.S. We have made these choices because we believe in American workers, in our partnership with the UAW and in enriching American communities.

Ford has exceeded its commitments to add jobs and invest during the last three contracts, most recently creating or retaining 5,600 additional UAW-represented jobs beyond the 8,500 we committed and investing $1.4 billion beyond the $6 billion we committed during the 2019 contract.

After extensive negotiations, Ford has presented a generous offer on the upcoming contract that would provide our hourly employees with 15% guaranteed combined wage increases and lump sums, and improved benefits over the life of the contract.

Wages (including overtime) and lump sum bonuses for Ford’s UAW-represented hourly workers would increase from $78,000 on average in 2022 to $92,000 in the first year of the contract.

On top of $92,000 in wages and bonuses, workers would receive health care coverage worth $17,500 and other benefits worth an additional $20,500 in the first year. Health care for permanent UAW-represented hourly employees would continue to rank in the top 1% of all employer-sponsored medical plans for lowest employee cost sharing.

Full-time permanent Ford employees at the top wage rate could be paid $98,000 – from wages, cost-of-living adjustment bonus, ratification bonus, profit sharing and overtime – in the first year alone.

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Overall, this offer is significantly better than what we estimate workers earn at Tesla and foreign automakers operating in the U.S.

This would be an important deal for our workers, and it would allow for the continuation of Ford’s unique position as the most American automaker – and give us the flexibility we need within our manufacturing footprint to respond to customer demand as the industry transforms. This offer would also allow Ford to compete, invest in new products, grow and share that future success with our employees through profit sharing.

We are committed to creating opportunity for every UAW worker to build a great career at Ford and to become a full-time permanent Ford employee with the good middle-class wages and benefits that come with it. Our offer fully eliminates wage tiers so all employees can achieve industry-leading wages, accelerates the grow-in period to reach the top wage rate by 25%, delivers a 20% raise for temporary employees and extends to temporary employees the same ratification bonus that permanent employees receive. Only 2% to 3% of Ford’s hourly workforce are temporary employees, by far the lowest among the Big 3.

But we will not make a deal that endangers our ability to invest, grow and share profits with our employees. That would mortgage our future and would be harmful to everyone with a stake in Ford, including our valued UAW workers.

Bottom line, we believe there is a path to succeed together in what is the most competitive and fast-changing era in the history of the American auto industry. Please see details below.”

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Ford President, CEO Jim Farley

“We are surprised by and strongly refute the NLRB charge filed by the International UAW. We believe it has no merit and is an insult to the bargaining committees. We have been hyper-focused on negotiating directly and in good faith with the UAW and are making progress. The pace of negotiations is based on how quickly both parties resolve nearly 1,000 UAW demands, including more than 90 presented this week. Our goal remains the same – to achieve an agreement without a disruption that rewards our team members and protects the future of the entire GM team.”

Gerald Johnson, GM Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing

“Stellantis has not received the filing, but is shocked by Mr. Fain’s claims that we have not bargained in good faith. This is a claim with no basis in fact, and we are disappointed to learn that Mr. Fain is more focused on filing frivolous legal charges than on actual bargaining. We will vigorously defend this charge when the time comes, but right now we are more focused on continuing to bargain in good faith for a new agreement. We will not allow Mr. Fain’s tactics to distract us from that important work to secure the future for our employees.”

Jodi Tinson, Stellantis Corporate Communications, Media Relations and Content