Ford’s striking, laid off UAW members get extra money in tentative deal: Here’s how much

While the UAW has reached tentative agreements with the Detroit Three automakers that focus on wage increases, job security, ratification bonuses and profit sharing, the union also secured millions of dollars to pay lost wages to striking workers and those impacted by layoffs related to the strike.

The Detroit Free Press obtained on Friday a copy of the strike settlement agreement between the UAW and Ford, which employs the most hourly workers in the automotive industry with about 57,000. The strike agreement estimates a payment of $110 per affected person per day, according to a UAW source familiar with the formula used to calculate payments.

Strike settlement payments would get dispersed after ratification of the tentative labor agreement to which the settlement is attached. UAW members are now voting nationally.

Mark Truby, Ford chief communications officer, declined to comment Friday on the strike settlement.

A UAW source with firsthand knowledge of the agreement but not authorized to speak to the media about it, also declined to comment on it but did tell the Free Press that General Motors and Stellantis have similar strike settlements and details would emerge soon.

GM spokesman David Barnas declined to comment Friday. Stellantis also declined to comment.

Who gets what?

Ford had 16,600 workers on strike at three plants and 3,167 workers on layoff at 10 Ford sites, according to a Ford news release dated Oct. 24. Targeted UAW strikes against Ford began on Sept. 15 in Michigan, Sept. 29 in Illinois and Oct. 11 in Kentucky.

The strike settlement between Ford and the UAW was signed Oct. 25 by UAW President Shawn Fain and Bryce Currie, Ford vice president of manufacturing.

The document included conditional language that the union would notify employees that the strike, and the picketing in support of it, had ended, and direct workers to report for their normally scheduled shifts as soon as possible.

Ford CEO Jim Farley and his chief financial officer, John Lawler, told industry analysts during the third quarter earnings report in October that the automaker was eager to get production back up and running at Michigan Assembly in Wayne, which builds the Bronco and Ranger, Chicago Assembly in Illinois, which builds the Explorer, Police Interceptor and Lincoln Aviator, and Kentucky Truck in Louisville, which builds the Super Duty pickup, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.

What the agreement says

The UAW and Ford have agreed that the company shall make available $53 million as a supplemental ratification bonus fund to "mitigate the financial impact on employees who experienced loss of work between Sept. 15 and Oct. 29 and did not receive supplemental unemployment benefit pay from the company. The strike settlement payments will be in addition to the $5,000 ratification bonus that employees get.

Details of the strike settlement are excerpted below:

• All employees who experienced loss of work "shall receive a pro rata amount" of money for each day of lost work. Payments will be "a supplement to the base ratification bonus paid to all eligible employees ... The total amount of the fund will be divided by the total number of work days lost by all affected employees for the purposes of pro rata calculation."

• "The strike or layoff period shall not constitute a break in service, and such time spent on strike or layoff shall be deemed service time" for all purposes such as benefits eligibility, attendance tracking, family and medical leave, unemployment benefit eligibility.

• Ford "represents that no temporary or permanent replacements were hired for any striking or laid off employee."

• The UAW and Ford "each agree that, upon ratification of the tentative agreement, they will withdraw and/or dismiss and will not refile any lawsuit, action, charge, complaint or other claim, whether civil or criminal in nature, currently pending before any court, administrative, arbitral or other authority to the extent that such matter relates to, or arises out of, any acts or omissions related to the UAW strike. On the date of ratification, Ford and the UAW will further execute releases of all strike-related claims, whether known or unknown."

• Ford and the UAW "agree that any grievances that were timely filed for alleged violations of the collective bargaining agreement" between Sept. 15 and the date of the ratification of a successor agreement shall be deemed timely and permitted to proceed through the grievance and arbitration procedure ..."

• If Ford "were to take any disciplinary or other adverse employment action against any union-represented employee as a result of an alleged act or omission during the strike, including any related picketing activity," Ford "agrees that it would be subject to the grievance and arbitration provisions of the 2023 collective bargaining agreement."

'Already lost so much'

Members of the National Ford Council were informed about the $53 million strike settlement reached between the UAW and Ford Oct. 29 following the review of the tentative agreement.

Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862 in Louisville, Kentucky, representing some 12,000 workers at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant and the Louisville Assembly Plant, said, "Ford helped pay to get us back to work and offset those people who, you know, have already lost so much."

Even though the strike settlement of $53 million will put some money back in the pockets of workers, "they still got to start over again," Dunn said. "So, we got to remember those who sacrificed so much and lost stuff they couldn't get back just because of a contract."

Dunn said the strike settlement was a separate discussion, reached between Ford and the UAW "outside of the confines of the regular bargaining." The reason for agreeing to these funds separately from the tentative agreement is because both Ford and UAW wanted workers on strike and temporarily laid off to return to work as quickly as possible.

In Louisville, robocalls for workers to return to work at Kentucky Truck started going out the evening of Oct. 25 after the tentative agreement was announced, Evan Palmer, a member of the National Ford Council, previously told the Courier Journal. Workers at Kentucky Truck were given a 48-hour grace period and mandatory work return started Oct. 28.

Dunn said the $53 million is expected to offset between 90-95% of wage losses for employees who will qualify for the money. Dunn was clear that the strike settlement fund was not "forcing Ford Motor Company to give us more" but rather a rectification of lost earnings while workers fought for a contract they believe will lead to a better livelihood.

"It was our duty as fair representation to do everything we can to get Ford Motor Company to help pay some of that restitution back," Dunn said in regard to why the UAW sought out strike settlement funds from the company.

'Good faith'

Additional pay from a strike settlement fund is meaningful, said Marick Masters, a professor of business at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University in Detroit.

An expert on the auto industry and labor relations, Masters said he had never heard of this type of settlement in the auto industry with previous collective bargaining agreements.

"I would say it’s a commendable step. This is a way of building goodwill with employees," Masters said. "It's intended to help alleviate any ill feelings. It’s encouragement to think that companies have operated in good faith and tried to reach sound agreements with the union."

A UAW source with firsthand knowledge of the deal told the Free Press that these types of agreements are not uncommon in other industries, and negotiators working with Fain have brought that knowledge into play.

During the UAW strike of targeted factories operated by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, as well as GM and Stellantis parts warehouse strikes, workers earned $500 a week in strike pay from the union.

That rate was twice what GM strikers earned during the 40-day strike in 2019. The $500 is pre-tax and workers must earn that wage by walking the picket line for assigned time periods, preparing food for striking workers or doing other work approved by union locals

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter @phoebesaid.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford’s striking, laid off UAW members to get $110 per day under deal