It’s still possible that the negotiations, despite the meaningful progress being made, could unravel.
The United Auto Workers union appears to be edging closer to a tentative contract agreement with Ford that would be critical to ending the union’s 6-week-old strikes against the three major Detroit automakers, two people with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday.
The people said the union made a counter-offer to Ford that proposes a 25% general wage increase over the life of a new four-year contract and said that negotiations on Tuesday extended well into Wednesday morning. Previously Ford, Stellantis and General Motors had all offered 23% pay increases.
A Ford deal would include cost-of-living pay increases that could lift the total pay raises above 30%, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the talks. In addition, workers would still receive annual profit-sharing checks.
It’s still possible that the negotiations, despite the meaningful progress being made, could unravel. But if the UAW can reach a tentative agreement with Ford, it would be used as a model to seek similar contract settlements with GM and Stellantis. Typically, during past auto strikes, a UAW deal with one automaker has led the other companies to match it with their own settlements.
One of the people said there also was progress in the union’s talks with GM. But it was unclear whether any of the automakers had accepted the UAW’s counter-offer of 25% pay increases over four years.
The progress in the negotiations came after the union this week walked out at three factories that produce highly profitable pickup trucks and SUVs, adding them to the list of plants already on strike in a strategy to intensify pressure on the companies.
