Letter to the Editor: UAW responds to Ford CEO Jim Farley's oped defending worker pay

Last week, I was surprised to read Ford CEO Jim Farley writing in the pages of the Free Press suggesting that an average Ford worker earns $112,000 a year in wages and benefits. ("Ford CEO Jim Farley defends worker pay in op-ed as UAW contract negotiations near," Detroit Free Press, June 29.) The data Farley cites is the company’s labor cost — not what goes into a worker’s pocket. It’s a familiar tactic, meant to mislead the public about Ford workers’ earnings, and was frequently used years ago during the financial crisis.

As vice president of the UAW’s National Ford Department, I feel compelled to address the misleading information presented in Mr. Farley’s op-ed, while acknowledging the truths brought forth as well.

To begin, I’d like to share the story of one of our UAW-Ford members.

Sara Schambers is a 17-year UAW member currently working at Ford’s Livonia Transmission Plant. She began her career building heating and cooling units for the F-150 at one of Ford’s wholly owned subsidiaries.

It took Sara six years as a “temporary worker” — working a full-time schedule — to get to the then-starting full-time wage of just over $16 an hour. It took her almost another decade to reach the top rate of pay for a production employee.

Sara has had to change plants four times, from Michigan to Kentucky and back, all on her own dime, because relocation benefits are not available to temporary workers.

Since Sara was not hired full time until 2012, five years after retirement benefits changed in 2007, she does not get the same benefits generations of autoworkers have relied on. The meager wages earned over the majority of her employment have not even kept up with inflation because quarterly cost of living adjustments were stopped in 2009 after concessionary bargaining during the global financial crisis.

Sara is a single mom and fourth-generation Ford worker struggling to raise two children. She would like to purchase a home but can’t afford it. She can barely afford to buy the Ford vehicles that she builds.

Over 29,000 UAW members hired at Ford since 2007 have stories like Sara’s.

More: Opinion: Ford CEO Jim Farley defends worker pay in op-ed as UAW contract negotiations near

Our UAW members fortunate enough to be hired before 2007 went from 2005 until 2015 without pay raises. They also lost quarterly cost of living adjustments in 2009. Over the last 18 years, they have received two wage increases of 3% each in the 2015-19 contract, and two 3% increases in the 2019-23 contract.

This has been unfairly disproportionate to the decade of corporate profits experienced by Ford. The company has been very profitable over the last decade, to the tune of $76 billion from 2013 to 2022 in North American earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization, as reported in public filings.

As hourly UAW employees of Ford, we do not villainize the company for achieving such profits. We are proud to have contributed through our hard work and dedication.

What Detroit auto execs earned in 2022: GM CEO Mary Barra's 2022 compensation: $28,979,570

Ford salaries in 2022: How much CEO Jim Farley earned

Stellantis paid millions to CEO Tavares last year, but a lot more to former executive

While it is true that in recent years we have earned good profit-sharing checks, this income is variable and should not be portrayed as guaranteed future income to our members. We seek only the ability to earn a decent standard of living, attain job security and the opportunity to retire with dignity while working in a safe and fair workplace.

In all fairness, Mr. Farley noted that we have made progress outside of contract negotiations on issues of mutual benefit to the company and our UAW members, like the mass conversion of several thousand temporary workers to full-time status, expansion of healthcare benefits and new product announcements and investments into the plants where our members work.

Although I rarely offer comments in the media, I have publicly commended Ford Motor Company for working with the UAW to address these important issues. However, that doesn't wipe away the unsustainable economic struggles, uncertain retirement benefits and future job security issues our members currently face.

The UAW and Ford Motor Company will begin bargaining a contract this week that must address many difficult issues for our salaried, production, skilled trades and retired members.

We recognize the importance and seriousness of the task at hand to our UAW members, Ford Motor Company and our communities. This understanding has inspired the entire UAW National Negotiating Team to work tirelessly for months, dedicating our efforts to preparation to ensure that we best address the aforementioned needs at the bargaining table. These issues include equally important economic and non-economic items, and involve complex discussions regarding the transition of an entire industry from internal combustible engine vehicles to electric vehicles.

I am uncertain as to why Mr. Farley was inspired to write his op-ed, although I have my own suspicions.What I do know is that Bill Ford Jr. has expressed a dedication to the sincere belief that a person employed by his family’s company is part of his extended family.

This is a refreshing and unfortunately unique approach in today's corporate world that has set Ford apart from other companies. It is the spirit in which difficult challenges have been worked through in the past, and it will take every bit of that spirit to successfully negotiate through the monumental challenges of our upcoming contract negotiations.

My advice to Mr. Farley is that it would be wise, and in both parties’ best interest, for Ford to continue to embrace what has made them successful in the past by dedicating their full attention to bargaining with their UAW employees at the table, rather than distracting themselves by utilizing old, musty and ineffective tactics in the media.

Chuck Browning

The letter writer is vice president of the UAW’s National Ford Department

Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Letter: UAW responds to Ford CEO Jim Farley's Free Press oped