DEARBORN, MICH. — Local union presidents and bargaining chairs have unanimously voted to recommend approval of a tentative four-year contract between Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers, a union local official said Monday.
Bruce Yates, bargaining chairman at Local 2000 at an assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, said the deal was recommended by a voice vote.
A summary of the contract posted on the union’s website shows that the Ford contract is similar to deals ratified by workers at General Motors and Chrysler.
Ford will contribute $13.2 billion to a union-run trust that will pick up much of the company’s $22 billion in retiree health-care liabilities. The company also will pay $2.2 billion for retiree health care until the trust takes effect in January 2010.
A typical UAW worker at Ford will get $12,904 worth of economic gains over the life of the contract, including a $3,000 signing bonus and lump-sum payments of 3 percent in the second year, 4 percent in the third and 3 percent in the fourth, according to the summary.
