{"id":6236,"date":"2023-10-28T02:18:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T02:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/business\/how-the-uaw-and-ford-struck-a-historic-deal\/"},"modified":"2023-10-28T02:18:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T02:18:14","slug":"how-the-uaw-and-ford-struck-a-historic-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=6236","title":{"rendered":"How the UAW and Ford struck a historic deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n The linchpin in negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Ford came on October 11, when\u00a0the union struck the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Ford had been put on notice, according to the UAW.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Wednesday, after 41 days on strike, the UAW and Ford reached a tentative agreement.\n <\/p>\n

\n The union\u00a0hitting Ford\u2019s largest and most profitable plant led to quick movement at the negotiating table, with both sides trying to close a deal.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ford had also seen what happened to General Motors on Tuesday, just hours after\u00a0the company\u00a0announced\u00a0its\u00a0third quarter earnings, posting a profit despite the strike. UAW launched a surprise targeted strike at GM\u2019s largest plant, Arlington Assembly, in Texas. Ford was set to report earnings on Thursday.\n <\/p>\n

\n There was a clear understanding that if there wasn\u2019t a deal between the UAW and Ford\u00a0by <\/strong>then, the company\u2019s Rouge Manufacturing Complex in Michigan\u00a0\u2013 which employs thousands of hourly workers –\u00a0was likely going to be struck next, the source added.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Rouge\u00a0plant\u00a0in Dearborn,\u00a0Michigan\u00a0is where Ford Chairman and fourth generation controlling family member Bill Ford spoke about negotiations for the first-time last week.\u00a0Ford called\u00a0on the UAW to \u201cstop this now\u201d and bring an end to talks,\u00a0adding that\u00a0the company\u2019s financial ability to invest in the future is the \u201clifeblood of the company.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Without it,\u00a0factories like the\u00a0Rouge plant\u00a0would close, Bill Ford said.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u00a0speech\u00a0perturbed\u00a0UAW President Shawn Fain,\u00a0who responded with a threat.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBill Ford knows exactly how to settle this strike. Instead of threatening to close the Rouge, he should call up [Ford President] Jim Farley, tell him to stop playing games and get a deal done, or we\u2019ll close the Rouge for him,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n A marathon negotiating session then started this past Tuesday, and went late into the night\u00a0into <\/strong>Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n By 6:30am Wednesday\u00a0morning, a\u00a0deal had been agreed to in principle.\u00a0The agreement\u00a0just needed UAW leadership and lawyers from both sides to sign off \u2013 particularly\u00a0Fain, a second source with knowledge said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Throughout the day, the tone was that a deal would either be figured out in six hours, or Rouge could be struck, the first source said.\n <\/p>\n

\n A labor lawyer for the UAW,\u00a0Benjamin Dictor,\u00a0posted several photos to X, formerly known as Twitter, painting a picture of the final\u00a024 hours\u00a0of negotiations.\n <\/p>\n

\n On 7:15pm on\u00a0Tuesday, he\u00a0posted a photo<\/a>\u00a0outside Ford HQ with the caption \u201ca beautiful evening in Dearborn.\u201d The following day on Wednesday\u00a0afternoon,\u00a0he posted \u201cHard at work.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Just hours later,\u00a0Dictor\u00a0posted a photo of him posing with UAW President Shawn Fain with the caption: \u201cA privilege to have had the opportunity to work alongside the UAW Ford Department members in their negotiations for this historic agreement. Soon it will be in the hands of the membership.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The deal was done.\n <\/p>\n

\n Shawn Fain made the announcement with UAW Vice President and key negotiator Chuck Browning in a pre-recorded video Wednesday\u00a0evening,\u00a0<\/strong>shortly before 8:30pm ET.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFord knew what was coming for them on Wednesday if we didn\u2019t get a deal. That was checkmate. On day 40 of the Stand Up strike, we reached a historic agreement,\u201d said Fain in the video posted to X.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ford\u2019s President and CEO Jim Farley followed with a statement\u00a0that said Ford was \u201cpleased\u00a0to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our U.S. operations.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n As of midnight on Wednesday, there were no Ford UAW members on the picket lines, two sources confirmed.\u00a0It\u2019s an unusual move to bring workers off the picket line before a deal is voted upon and ratified by rank-and-file membership. But in this case, it\u2019s about strategy.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019re going back to work at Ford to keep the pressure on Stellantis and GM. The last thing they want is for Ford to get back to full capacity while they mess around and lag behind,\u201d said Browning in the Wednesday night\u2019s video announcement.\n <\/p>\n

\n The UAW is still negotiating with GM and Stellantis.\n <\/p>\n

\n Getting the deal done with Ford was a big hurdle,\u00a0according to a third source with knowledge.\u00a0The next biggest hurdle will be getting 57,000 UAW members to ratify\u00a0the tentative deal, which\u00a0might not happen until Thanksgiving. There is relief, however, that there is a deal in place, the third source said.\n <\/p>\n

\n While there are\u00a0no longer any\u00a0UAW members on the picket lines at Ford, it will take time to\u00a0get\u00a0everyone\u00a0back to work. It\u00a0could take the company four or more weeks to get back up and running to full speed.\n <\/p>\n

\n But at Kentucky Truck Plant, the company is already asking people to return to work voluntarily this week to get the plant back up and running,\u00a0according to Todd Dunn, UAW Local 862 President, who represents workers at Kentucky Truck.\n <\/p>\n

\n The company is also asking weekend shift workers to come in starting tomorrow with the plan that by Monday the plant will be running at full capacity, said Dunn.\n <\/p>\n

\n Still, there\u00a0is a lot of animosity between Ford and the UAW which needs to be repaired, this third source added.\n <\/p>\n

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\n In one of Fain\u2019s signature Facebook Live videos, early on in negotiations,\u00a0the UAW president called one of Ford\u2019s offers \u2018disgusting\u2019\u00a0while pointing to a trash can, where he said it belonged. On several occasions in the early weeks, Farley appeared emotional about the state of negotiations when speaking to media.\u00a0The Ford CEO\u00a0said the deal the UAW was looking for would bankrupt the company.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ford reported earnings Thursday\u00a0less than\u00a0a\u00a0day\u00a0after the tentative agreement was reached,\u00a0posting\u00a0a profit. That was despite the strike and its cost \u2013 $100 million in losses during the third quarter.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ford\u2019s\u00a0CFO\u00a0John Lawler cautioned on the company\u2019s earnings call that there is still \u201csignificant uncertainty\u201d caused by the strike, including how smoothly the restart of plants will go, and how quickly the company\u2019s suppliers will be back online in order to build Ford\u2019s vehicles again.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN\u2019s Chris Isidore contributed to this report.<\/em>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n