Ford Workers Near Kansas City Authorize Strike Against Auto Company

DETROIT — Workers at a Ford Motor Co. plant near Kansas City, Mo., have voted to let their union leaders call a strike against the company.

United Auto Workers members at Ford's Claycomo plant voted 3,049 to 18 in favor of authorizing a strike, local union President Jeff Wright said in an e-mail Monday.

The vote is standard procedure in contract negotiations and doesn't necessarily mean that there will be a strike.

UAW President Bob King said Monday that he's "upbeat" about the negotiations and doesn't expect a strike. He wouldn't give any details about the progress of the talks, which officially began last month.

"Nobody has more at stake in the success of these companies than UAW members," King said at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club.

Workers at the Claycomo plant voted on Thursday and Saturday, and were among the first in the company to cast ballots. All Ford workers represented by the UAW will vote on the same issue by Sept. 2.

Contracts between the union and Ford, General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC expire on Sept. 14.

All three companies are now making money, and King says workers should share in the newfound profits. But at the same time, he says companies must have labor costs that are competitive with Asian rivals, mainly Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. King said one priority for the union is raising the pay of entry-level workers. Those workers make $14 an hour, or half the pay of legacy workers.

"We're very concerned about the entry-level member having a middle-class standard of living, which I would argue they don't," King said.

Technically the UAW can strike only at Ford over the issue of wages. Strikes over pay are prohibited at GM and Chrysler under terms of both companies' government bailouts. Ford avoided bankruptcy by taking out massive private loans.

The negotiations are the first since Chrysler and GM accepted government aid and emerged from bankruptcy in 2009. The contracts will set wages and benefits for 111,000 UAW members nationwide and pay levels for manufacturing jobs in the automobile and other industries.

Ford has the highest total labor cost in the industry at $58 per hour, compared with Toyota's $55, according to the Center for Automotive Research. All three companies want to lower their costs to get closer to the competition.

Many Ford workers want concessions made in 2007 and 2009 restored, and they're angry that white-collar workers got bonuses this year and raises last year while factory workers gave up pay increases. They're also unhappy about CEO Alan Mulally's $26.5 million pay package for 2010.

Ford factory workers got $5,000 profit-sharing checks earlier this year. The company made $4.95 billion in the first half of the year.

Comments

[sidecarman]

05:23 PM on 09/07/2011

ford needs to be punished for snubbing obama. the union should shut them down.

[PackFlats]

09:31 PM on 08/30/2011

Every plant takes a strike vote before the National contract bargaining begins ,it’s used as a bargaining tool. My guess is their will not be a strike this year and their may not even be a strike target G.M /Ford / Chrysler .In the past G.M. was the strike target if the U.A.W was trying to get wage increases and Ford for benefits Chrysler was pot luck because they were never in a strong position to take on a long strike .They all know what’s on the line this time around and what’s a stake.

[JAVA VB]

04:23 PM on 08/30/2011

Although It is their right to call for a strike, yet I don't see that can help America in current economic conditions.

[Will K]

03:26 PM on 08/30/2011

Wow I cant believe how greedy myself and all my U.A.W. brothers and sister are here at Ford. You posters are right once they get my wages down to what you think is right .... say $10-$12/hr I am sure they will pass the savings on to you.

[sidecarman]

05:26 PM on 09/07/2011

american cars are not nearly as good as the asian models. i would rather drive the cheapest korean car than the most expensive american made lemon.

however i think ford should be punished for their anti obama positions. a long expensive strike would be in order

[ringo3khan]

01:13 PM on 08/30/2011

Well, I'm not a stand-up comic, but this story begs humor. I mean, really, if you wanted to find the 3,000 dumbest people in America, where would you look first? Would the 3,000 who voted IN THE MIDST OF THIS ECONOMY to go on strike against Ford be at the top of your list? I bought a Ford and now I know what's wrong with it; it was assembled by the dumbest people in America today. Makes me wonder...........do Ford Employees family trees fork?

I think these people have lost their FOCUS, (drum roll please).

Come on...........the possiblities are ENDLESS.

[PackFlats]

03:31 PM on 08/30/2011

Did you say drum roll or dumb roll I love how a person with such a lack of knowledge of the workings of the U.A.W Union makes a post of this nature. Yes the GOP needs people like you, smart people need not apply Bang your excepted.

[pleasantlyny]

11:19 AM on 08/30/2011

Comparing the $58 per hour for Ford and the $55 per hour of toyota is fair... and spread over thousands of employees that is alot of $$$$$...

However, they should also compare the top 500 executieves at each company and see what they get. That is where yo uwill see a MAJOR difference.

[PARepublican]

12:09 PM on 08/30/2011

Executive pay and employee pay have nothing to do with each other!

[pleasantlyny]

12:28 PM on 08/30/2011

Thats the problem... but you are correct. Fight to get wages lower for employees but also fight for 20 million a year and a jet and a house for a CEO. Then blame the lower wage worker for your company tanking.

its a cycle. but i have to agree with you in the american model it is what we like. This is the model that will doom us but hey it works for a few.

[PackFlats]

01:03 PM on 08/30/2011

Once again Ford is $55 per hour ,GM is at $58 per hour.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/12/fords-new-deal-with-uaw-gets-wages-down-to-55-hour/

[Eagleman]

10:13 AM on 08/30/2011

It's time to sell Ford stocks. Thanks to the Union

[SitandStay]

07:57 AM on 08/30/2011

Before the board and management wakes up, we will be buying cheaper cars from overseas that are much more economical to run and are more dependable. We bought a Prius and love it! Every time my husband fills it up (which isn't too often) people stand and look at it. Some comment on their misery and point to their gas guzzlers.

[joeisright]

07:31 AM on 08/30/2011

Unions sure know how to destroy a company. Ford's labor cost at $58 per hour? I know a small business can't afford that and we have Obamacare.

In the next ten years we will be buying Chinese.

[PackFlats]

09:23 AM on 08/30/2011

Fords labor cost in $55 per hour and that’s in line with Toyota of America which is at $55 per hour and yes Toyota isn’t Union!
So the point of Unions destroying company’s doesn’t seem to hold true in this case.

[pleasantlyny]

11:20 AM on 08/30/2011

Ford is not a small business...... And did yo ucompare executive pay with overseas companies? Oh, I forgot you just want to stick it to the little man..... lol. You guys are a trip.

[joeisright]

04:38 PM on 08/30/2011

I did not know i had to explain it to you in more detail.

[Alwayspissedoffatsomeone]

11:42 PM on 08/29/2011

Fire those who don't show up for work.

[MyResponsibility]

10:56 PM on 08/29/2011

Bad idea, union members. Count yourself among the fortunate to even have a job. To demand more money this early in the company's recovery is a bit much. I gladly accepted a 32% pay cut in 2010, for the alternative was a 100% cut. The union will find few supporters, save the other unions and some HuffPo readers.

[ur2nutty4me]

10:33 PM on 08/29/2011

Why do the memories of Eastern Airlines come to mind.................................

[SitandStay]

07:49 AM on 08/30/2011

because you are c l u e l e s s

[ur2nutty4me]

11:23 PM on 08/30/2011

Read a book...............

Your obviously to young or a UAW member or supporter.

[ur2nutty4me]

03:32 PM on 08/31/2011

Your comment that "we went on to jobs that paid far more than EAL would ever have paid" was pure fabricatio­n­­n and worthy of a Tea Party response to facts. Thanks for the laug. hI never met a Eastern Airline employee who could admit their culpabilit­y in the destructio­n­­n of so many families. All parties refusal to adjust to bad decisions. unfavorabl­e­­ economic conditions­­­, new competitio­n­­n and the fact that salaries and benefits were unsustaina­ble­­ble.. The big boys got out with what they could ( and wrote off the rest). The onions could not see the forest through the trees and that what could of been a reasonable extended temporary cut in fabulous pay and benefits (that would of potentiall­y­y saved the company . turned into a Tea Party approach of all or nothing. You know what you got.


This brings me back to my original post that the two events (Eastern and Ford) Have the similariti­es of bad management decisions (over purchase of cost efficient aircraft) and the employees inability to grasp new economic realities.

The sky was a different color in your world back then and still appears to be so..

And lastly your desperate attempt to make yourself feel better about Larenzo getting his just deserts was hysterical.

[carl4369]

10:20 PM on 08/29/2011

unions bad for the economy let them strike close the plant and go where people want to work

[AfRet2002]

12:08 AM on 08/30/2011

Why is being part of a union synonymous with not wanting to work? Be careful your prejudice is showing.

[SitandStay]

12:18 AM on 08/31/2011

You are wrong and can not even provide a link to your OPINION.
Signed,
Daughter of Retired Army Air Corps pilot that flew the Berlin Airlift

[shadow013]

09:46 PM on 08/29/2011

I don't believe these guys realize how lucky they are to have jobs. I don't believe they are showing appreciation to the state of Missouri and its citizens. The legislature approved and Gov. Nixon signed off on a package of tax incentives to keep Ford employment in the area. State budget is tight, but these guys don't seem to understand what Missouri did for them. They could be unemployed or under employed. The average Missourian will not support this strike and the majority will be unhappy with strikers. Under positive economic conditions, the view would be different.

[JoePharms]

09:50 PM on 08/29/2011

I'm sure many unemployed Missourians would just love to cross that picket line and be a "scab"

[AfRet2002]

12:11 AM on 08/30/2011

The big corporations love statements like this. They are laughing all the way to the bank as we fight among ourselves.

[shadow013]

08:33 AM on 08/30/2011

As I said, only last year the state legislature (on behalf of Missouri's general population) authorized breaks for Ford to keep jobs in the area. Many here are keenly aware of job loss due to trade agreements, as many small, modest paying factories closed throughout the state. At this point, the strike action may be directed against Ford, but it's also like thumbing one's nose at other Missourians including those who don't have jobs or have lesser jobs.

Where the rubber meets the road is trade agreements that are not "fair," especially when those who outsource jobs do so not only because of lower cost of labor but because of no pollution controls in other countries. We've outsourced jobs to create pollution somewhere in the world. How does that make sense if we are supposed to respect the environment? The argument should be with Congress and trade policies. Global government has its downside, and we have given up areas of national sovereignty for it.

Missouri is sort of an alternative to third world, and we know it. A few of our manufacturing plants sent jobs to Mexico, then brought them back. Caterpillar sought a new location years back. Instead of building a new plant in Illinois, they chose Missouri over Mexico. We know what our category is after NAFTA and trade agreements with China.

[GetRealSoon]

09:07 PM on 08/29/2011

If you call getting loans from the Fed not a bail out then what is? According to Bloomberg's list "The Feds Secret Liquidity Lifelines" Ford got Bailed Out.

http://www.bloomberg.com/data-visualization/federal-reserve-emergency-lending/#/overview/?sort=nomPeakValue&group=none&view=peak&position=552.0512820512823&comparelist=&search=

[EdmundoOrejel]

09:18 PM on 08/29/2011

Looks like a severe case of a chicken calling the kettle black.

[shadow013]

09:48 PM on 08/29/2011

Yep, another back door bail out. Crony capitalism. No honesty in public business anymore.