Ford Motor’s executive chairman said that the United Automobile Workers’ month-long strike and their demands for substantial increases in pay and benefits could damage the U.S. automobile industry and its ability to compete with nonunion foreign competitors.
The U.A.W. should not be viewed as the enemy. William C. Ford Jr. said that Ford or its rivals across the street, General Motors and Stellantis, were not the U.A.W. Officials have called the automakers the union’s enemy.
Ford and U.A.W. Ford, speaking at the company’s Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Mich., said, “It should be Ford and the U.A.W. against Toyota, Honda Tesla, and all Chinese companies who want to enter our domestic market.”
The executive chairman stated that “Toyota Honda Tesla and other companies are enjoying the strike because they know it’s in their best interest to keep it going.” “They will win and we will all lose.”
Ford’s comments alluded to an era a few decades ago when the U.A.W. Many industry experts believed that the Michigan automakers were hampered by the competition of Japanese and European automakers after they won increasingly rich contracts. Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy, and G.M. After the 2008 financial meltdown, Chrysler — which is now a part of Stellantis – had to file for bankruptcy protection.
Ford’s ability to invest for the future is not just a talking point, Mr. Ford stated. It is absolutely vital to our business. If we lose this, we’ll fail our competitors. “Many jobs will be lost.”
The U.A.W. released a statement. Shawn Fain said in a statement that Mr. Ford must “stop playing games” and accept the union’s demands or else “we will close the Rouge” for him. The U.A.W. is not against the company but rather “corporate greed.”
“If Ford wants the all-American car company, then they can pay all American wages and benefits,” said Mr. Fain. “The workers at Tesla, Toyota, and Honda are not the enemy – they’re U.A.W. “Members of the future.”
Ford, G.M. Since July, Ford, G.M. Since July. The union has been calling on employees at several plants to strike over the last month. Three Ford plants and two G.M. The action has caused the shutdown of three Ford plants, two G.M. The strike also affects 38 G.M. The strike also affects workers at the Stellantis and 38 G.M.
The goal of this strategy is to put pressure on companies to pay union demands, such as higher wages, shorter hours, and increased pensions. It also aims to eliminate a system where new hires are paid just over half the U.A.W. The union’s top wage is $32 per hour.
The companies have agreed to pay increases of over 20 percent in the next four-year period and take other measures that are in line with union demands. However, the U.A.W. The U.A.W. is pushing for more concessions.
The union at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, which is the largest plant of the company, called for a walkout by 8,700 employees last week.
Ford executives claimed last week that they had made an unprecedented offer to the union. They also said that sweetening this deal would hinder the automaker’s ability to invest in electric vehicles, new models, and technologies.
Ford has been involved in all rounds of negotiations with U.A.W. Since 1982, Ford said that the talks have reached “a crossroads,” and warned that the labor contracts which burden the automakers could negatively affect the U.S. economic system.
He said that everyone should know the cost of failure. Let’s reach an agreement and then fight the real competition.
