Detroit, Michigan — The United Auto Workers union (UAW) and Ford Motor Co. have reached a tentative agreement that will end a nearly six-week strike.
The union made the announcement on Wednesday night that they had reached a tentative agreement with the automaker.
The current agreed-upon deal includes a 25 percent pay increase over the terms of the agreement as well as reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, a three-year path to top wages and right to strike over plant closures.
With wage increases, the agreement will cumulatively raise the top wages to more than $40 per hour, including an increase of 68 percent for starting wages which will be raised to over $28 per hour.
″We told Ford to pony up and they did. We won things nobody thought was possible,” UAW President Shawn Fain said during a video posted online Wednesday night. He said the value of Ford’s offer increased by 50% compared with when the targeted, or “stand-up,” strikes began Sept. 15.
The tentative deal must still be approved by local UAW leaders and then ratified by a majority vote of Ford’s workers covered by the union.
Auto workers who are currently on strike with Ford will return to work while the union’s approval and voting process occurs, UAW VP Chuck Browning said.
“Like everything we’ve done during this ‘stand-up’ strike, this is a strategic move to get the best deal possible,” Browning, who led Ford negotiations, said. “We’re 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.”
In a supporting statement, Ford said it was “pleased to have reached a tentative agreement.” The company is now focused on restarting production at the Kentucky Truck Plant, the Michigan Assembly Plant and the Chicago Assembly Plant, where the union initiated walkouts of roughly 16,600 workers.
Both GM and Stellantis also released statements Wednesday night about continuing to work with the UAW union to reach tentative agreements “as soon as possible.”
