Ford UAW Workers Narrowly Approve Contract, UAW Executive Board Ratifies GM Deal

by Ronnie Schreiber

Published: November 21st, 2015

ford uaw workers narrowly approve contract uaw executive board ratifies gm deal

A week before Thanksgiving, the United Auto Workers and all of the domestic automakers know they will enter the holiday season without having to worry about a strike.

According to the Detroit News, the UAW announced late Friday that their members at Ford approved a proposed contract by a narrow 51.4-percent margin.

That news followed closely the union’s announcement that its International Executive Board considered ratified its contract with General Motors. It will go into effect starting next week. That deal had been delayed because, although the overall vote was in favor of the contract, almost 60 percent of skilled trade members of the UAW at GM voted against it.

The news from the UAW’s Ford and GM departments follows the union’s ratification last month of a contract with Fiat Chrysler that had been revised from an earlier rejected proposed contract.

The contract vote at Ford went down to the wire, but it was finally ratified because of overwhelming, 70-plus-percent approval at late-voting Local 600, which represents 5,900 workers at the Dearborn Truck and Dearborn Stamping plants.

In a statement, UAW President Dennis Williams said, “Our UAW members have ratified the national agreement after a long process and much debate. The voice of the majority has secured a strong future that will provide job security and economic stability for themselves and their families.”

Ford’s executive vice president for manufacturing and labor affairs, John Fleming said, “This agreement provides a good foundation for Ford Motor Company, our employees and our communities as we work together to create an even stronger business in the years ahead.”

At GM, the UAW’s National GM Council, which includes ranking officials from all UAW locals and shops, met Friday morning to discuss the 2015 contract. That followed a two week review looking into why the contract, which had been approved by a majority of GM UAW members a month ago was voted down by members in the skilled trades. Following that meeting, the union’s International Executive Board met and ratified the contract.

According to UAW bylaws, a rejection of a contract by skilled trades members can be overruled by the executive board if the board finds that those members who voted against the contract did so for reasons that are not unique to their job classifications. Skilled trades workers opposing the deal expressed concerns over local contract agreements, reclassification of trades, numbers of apprentices, outsourcing, manpower reductions, and a lack of cost of living increases and buyouts in the national contract. The UAW’s hierarchy deemed those concerns to not be unique to the skilled trades and considered the contract ratified.

#Ford #GeneralMotors #LaborContracts #LaborRelations #Uaw #UawFord #UawGm #UnitedAutoWorkers

Ronnie Schreiber

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.

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Pch101 on Nov 21, 2015

CANBERRA - Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Friday that Australia will be changing its name to Moronica. "We have a lot of bogans who spend their days online looking like idiots and otherwise giving us a bad reputation, so we may as well accept it," Mr. Turnbull said in a speech before Parliament. In conjunction with this announcement, the prime minister announced that he will be growing a mullet and driving a Falcon Ute as his official state vehicle. "I need the ute to carry my beer," Mr. Turnbull added.

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- Big Al from Oz on Nov 21, 2015
  
  Pch101, You must of missed the second part of the speech. He announced that more research money will be used for Australia's contribution to environmentally friendly vehicle research. Australia has designed a fantastic green (or any colour for that matter) vehicle. We even have the largest race in the world for this style of vehicle. Also, the name Morinica was what Obysmal announced for the US. We are be renamed to Lostrayla according to our reporters. The Kiwi's are only getting a new flag. http://images2.newspix.com.au/CorexDoc/NPX/Media/TR5_WATERMARKED/0/a/5/9/NP161241.jpg
  
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- Wmba on Nov 22, 2015
  
  @Big Al from Oz What you lot ought to try to do beyond promoting the Mazda BT50/Ford Ranger as the world's best pickup truck, is to start digging. Digging for oil, that is. Orstrilia is a bit short of the greasy muck, about 50% short for daily needs, and has to import the rest from SE Asia. Relying on that part of the world for long-term supply is a bit of a concern if anyone in Oz had a bit of commonsense, not a national characteristic apparently. So to earn a knighthood and nods of approval from the other knobs lazing poolside, you could get out there and frack a couple of million square kilometres in the middle of nowhere. The only thing you'd disturb is feral sheep surviving on stink-lilly bulbs and the odd sunburned dingo looking to lick the inside of old corned beef cans discarded by the crews. And I'd suggest a healthy squadron of Rangers for the mid-week two-day trek to Alice for bee-ah. The extra-heavy duty frame and other-worldly towing capacity of these things mean hauling a seven ton refrigerated trailer of stubbies across the Gibson and Simpson would be a cakewalk, mate. Now probs. Course, fracking without a water supply might be a problem, so use the beer instead, and keep the Flying Doctor on satellite phone speed-dial to deal with industrial injuries caused by operating heavy machinery when sloshed. Why the eff you lot sit around amusing yourselves lecturing Americans on pickup trucks for years and years is beyond me, but gives the detached reader a good idea of the level of excitement of life in Orstrilia. There's eff all else to do besides troll internet forums, drink beer, belch and feel you're living in minimum wage paradise. Anyone with real gumption like Murdoch got out, made money in the UK and then started buying up and ruining America from the inside. Quality manufactured goods and Australia - two items not normally associated together in the same sentence. Self-importance and the likelihood to berate foreigners from a fake intellectual height- two items commonly associated with Aussies occupying otherwise useful space on car forums. I'm sure if Americans wanted to be lectured by Aussies on their version of the realities of pickup truck life, they would have asked for it. Their responses for over four years suggest you're barking up the wrong tree. But like ebola, you just keep coming back. Thanks so much. Get a life. And do something productive for a change. That's our fervent wish, but being the sort of twerps you lot are, no doubt we'll be confronted by grade school level advice and "startling facts" from Down Under for decades to come. May the Cane Toad be with you.
  
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- RobertRyan on Nov 22, 2015
  
  @Wmba Outside of the total lack of understanding of Australia in your post. The stupid " Small Truck Mafia" condescending posts, suggest, your "lecturing" has no relevance, just like US Pickups have here.
  
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- RideHeight on Nov 22, 2015
  
  @wmba I believe it's possible to be too harsh on Australia. Imagine if we could transport all our supermax prisoners to a largely empty desert continent and checked up on them in 200 year's time. Would they have an opera house or nothing but District 9 shacks? Clearly, Australians are descended from a higher grade of felon.
  
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- Pch101 on Nov 22, 2015
  
  @RideHeight Australia has 24 million people. What were the odds that two of their dumbest native sons would end up on this website?
  
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- RobertRyan on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @RideHeight The US has 330 million. What is the odds that it's dumbest troll is on this one?
  
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- RobertRyan on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @Rideheight, seeing the US has the highest incarceration rate on the planet, which member of your family is behind bars?
  
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- Big Al from Oz on Nov 23, 2015
  
  wmba, Personally I think Mercedes Benz has the best pickup ever created, the AMG 6x6 G Wagen. This pickup also has it's roots in Australia. Detroit or for that matter no other manufacturer has made such a fantastic pickup. The BT50 and Ranger are good competitive pickups, more pickups that have their souls and design in Australia. But like any design wether Australian, American or Canuckian, they are a global effort. Ford's Ranger has outstripped Ford's expectations, unlike the aluminium F-150, especially with its 2.7 EcoSuck that's averaging 16mpg or less combined. And here is TTAC screwing over VW and yet I would like to see what the aluminium F-150 is really spewing out its exhaust at 15.4mpg combined. Is it worse than a VW diesel? I also have to agree with RobertRyan, that your knowledge of Australia is limited. We have feral goats, buffalo and camels, not sheep, they would die. As for manufacturing, you are clueless. Industries like vehicle assembly is best left to the countries we can help lift their standards of living and let us developed countries concentrate on advancing our economies with AI and robotics and other areas of industry, ie services. If manufacturing fits into these futures and we can do it competitively I'm for it. As for our agri industry, Australia the most efficient in the world. Maybe you should visit Australia. Australia is what the Americans and Canadians dreamed their countries would become..........so far. Australia is not necessarily the biggest, bestest, mostest, etc at anything. But overall it averages out to be the best with second highest standard of living in the world, Canada was once their, I do hope we don't screw up like you Canadians. The US is around 16th or 17th when inequality and disparity is taken into consideration. Many who comment on TTAC from the US live on the better side of the tracks and forget about the $2.14ph waitresses relying on measly tips, the $9.50ph people working in supermarket and gas stations. Because it's their fault their isn't enough middle class jobs. Canada isn't as bad.
  
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- CJinSD on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @Big Al from Oz Australia doesn't have sheep? Are you sure you're Australian and not someone who comes here merely to discredit Australia by losing arguments? Australia has the second most sheep of any nation. Only China has more. Australia has over a hundred million sheep today. One in thirty-three Australians earns a living tending sheep. From the 1840s to the 1950s, Australia's economy was as dependent on sheep as ours is on oil. How could anyone know so little about the place that they live? http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-farming-and-agriculture
  
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- RideHeight on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @RideHeight Robbie, Some people are made uncomfortable by praise and you appear to be one. I promise it won't happen again.
  
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- RobertRyan on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @Rideheight You got the higher grade right, but unlike the US every fifth person is not a potential felon.
  
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- RideHeight on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @Big Al from Oz Robbie, While the incarcerated percentage of the US population is about 20x lower than you imply it is still an outrageous offense against US taxpayers when .22s are so cheap and well proven by our organized crime's HR departments.
  
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- DenverMike on Nov 23, 2015
  
  @Big Al from Oz To their credit though, their trolling is on a world class level. If the casual reader knows little to zero on the subject, they could easily take BAFO and RR's comments as facts. Many of their carefully concocted statements make perfect sense on a superficial level, until you look deeper, and it becomes obvious you've been trolled. Most of the rest are simply 'hit and run' tactics. You call them out on their crap, except they've already scampered off to another thread, article or site. So when they repeat their same crap again, they can claim ignorance, I guess. Lots of ad hominem attacks from them too, facts twisted, lopsided comparisons, etc. They're good at what they do. I don't understand their motivation though. But there has to be a 'support staff' too. No way they're smart/fast enough to do it on their own. TTAC isn't the only site they disrupt. Not by a long shot.
  
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50merc on Nov 22, 2015

UAW members must be the hardest-to-please people on the planet. They get job security and even more lush compensation (the envy of 99.44% of the blue collar world), and barely half approve the deal? I suspect the "nay" vote comes from those who wanted a strike to get a vacation; after all, the eventual signing bonus would cover any lost pay.

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