Woodlawn local joins in passage
By Matt Glynn
NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
United Auto Workers members at Ford Motor Co., including those at the companyís stamping plant in Woodlawn, have approved contract changes that include freezing wages and restructuring retirement benefits to help the automaker remain competitive.
Members of UAW Local 897 backed the changes, with 54 percent voting in favor, an outcome that was similar to results announced Monday at UAW locals across the country.
Nationwide, 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled trade workers backed the changes, the UAW said.
About 70 percent of union members from the local plant participated in Sundayís vote.
Workers who supported the changes described them as necessary sacrifices to help the automaker survive, said Charles Gangarossa, president of Local 897. ìI think itís the right thing to do during these times weíre living in, with the economy as it is,î he said.
Gangarossa said he was surprised that workers here did not approve the changes by a wider margin, but he said some had questions about giving back more after making other concessions in previous labor agreements.
The changes in the 2007 contract included suspending cost-of- living increases and cash bonuses.
Ford also will be permitted to make some payments in stock, rather than cash, to a union-run trust for retiree health care. The deal also ended the controversial jobs bank program that allowed workers who are on layoff for extended periods to collect most of their pay.
ìBy working together with our UAW partners, we identified solutions that will help Ford reach competitive parity with foreign-owned auto manufacturers and that are important to our efforts to operate through the current economic environment without accessing a bridge loan from the U. S. government,î said Joe Hinrichs, Fordís group vice president of global manufacturing and labor affairs.
Unlike rivals General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, Ford has not received loans from the federal government to aid its survival. But it sought contract changes from the UAW in line with modifications expected to be made at the other two automakers.
Though it has resisted asking for government aid, Ford remains under pressure to reduce costs. Last year, it lost a record $14.6 billion, and it owes $13.2 billion to the union-run retiree health care trust.
Fordís performance has local implications for its dealer network as well as its Woodlawn stamping plant, which employs 770 hourly workers producing stamped parts for vehicles such as the Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX and Ford Flex. The vehicles are assembled in Ontario. Production schedules at the Canadian plants have fluctuated in recent months as Ford has adjusted its vehicle output at the assembly plants.
The stamping plant, along with GMís engine plant in the Town of Tonawanda, is considered a cornerstone of the local auto manufacturing sector.
The alterations to the UAW-Ford agreement are expected to set a pattern for talks between the union and GM and Chrysler. Under the terms of their loan agreements with the federal government, GM and Chrysler must bring their labor costs in line with those of foreign automakersí plants in the United States. They are rushing to meet a deadline of March 31 to show progress.
In the Buffalo Niagara region, economists and industry observers say the survival of Ford and GM is critical not only to protect jobs at those plants but also to ensure the viability of such suppliers as Delphi Corp.ís operation in Lockport.
In the next round of talks, Gangarossa said, the union hopes to win back contract items that were suspended as part of the modifications.
ìItís all about the sales going up and the economy getting better,î he said.
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