Members of the United Auto Workers at Ford Motor Co. have ratified contract concessions and retiree health care funding changes to the independent voluntary employee beneficiary association trust for retiree health care. Nearly 60 percent of the votes favored the measure.
The UAW announced the approval Monday, March 9. The deal allows Ford to use stock to fund up to half its obligations to a retiree health care trust.
“Once again, UAW members have stepped up to make the difficult decisions necessary to deal with the reality of the current economy, the deteriorating auto industry as a whole and specifically the negative impact the economic climate is having on Ford Motor Co.,” UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement.
The UAW said 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades workers approved the agreement.
To rebuild the U.S. auto industry, Gettelfinger again called for “shared sacrifice” from other stakeholders, such as company executives, directors, shareholders, bondholders, dealers and suppliers.
Filed by Amy Wilson of Automotive News, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
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