Louisville Courier, October 29, 2009, Thursday

Louisville Courier

October 29, 2009, Thursday

Louisville Courier

Louisville a key in Ford contract vote; UAW workers weigh more givebacks

United Auto Workers 862 in Louisville, one of the largest UAW locals at Ford Motor Co., on Wednesday began what could be a pivotal vote on contract changes affecting Ford factories nationwide.

At issue are proposed changes that would require union workers to surrender the right to strike over wage and benefit increases during contract talks in 2011.

Chrysler and General Motors workers already gave up the right to strike altogether as part of agreements negotiated as those companies battled bankruptcy.

Ford's tentative UAW pact requires that Ford and the union negotiate pay and benefit increases through binding arbitration. Unlike Chrysler and GM, Ford's UAW work force would retain the right to strike if Ford proposed any cuts in 2011.

As of Wednesday, four union locals across the country had voted in support of the tentative agreement, while six had voted against it.

Many Louisville Assembly workers at the union hall on Fern Valley Road on Wednesday said ceding the right to strike — even on a handful of issues — was a reason to reject the pact.

“It is a slippery slope,” said Karen L. Bybee, 47. “A line has to be drawn in the sand.”

Besides the strike restrictions, the pact would freeze entry-level wages at $14 per hour and consolidate some job classifications. In return, the automaker promises more work and a $1,000 bonus Dec. 31. st

The vote comes at an especially critical time for the Louisville Assembly Plant.

Ford has promised the Fern Valley Road plant, which produces the declining Explorer sport utility vehicle, a different product with “significant export volume” in 2011. A person familiar with the company's plans has said the plant will assemble the Escape SUV for U.S. sales and the Kuga compact sport utility vehicle for export.

The plant, which laid off about 275 employees last summer, currently employs just one shift of about 1,100 workers. That shift is running at 70 percent of its capacity and is expected to produce 70,000 Explorers by year's end.

But when the renovated Louisville Assembly reopens in 2011, the plant could produce 80,000 Kuga CUVs for export alone, according to a recent Bloomberg News story. That would mean more jobs for UAW workers in Louisville and possibly provide openings for workers from Ford's Indianapolis Steering plant, which Ford has been trying to spin off for years.

“Based on the forecasted employment opportunities at Louisville Assembly Plant … the parties agree to proactively work together to maximize the Louisville employment opportunities for the Indianapolis employees,” the agreement states.

Meanwhile, Ford has promised to keep making Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs at the Kentucky Truck Plant, through the “current product cycle.”

Next year, the Chamberlain Lane operations will produce a new F-Series Super Duty truck and a new diesel engine.

Even if Ford hires 3,000 people for three shifts at Louisville Assembly, new workers “will not be able to afford to buy the products they make” because their wages would be too low, said Joe Morris, 53, an electrician at the plant.

Louisville Assembly millwright Gene Embry, 48, wore a sandwich board that said “NO” in 12-inch-tall letters.

“We want Ford to succeed and do very well,” electrical apprentice Bob Cecil, 44, said. “But the only thing a union has is the right to strike.”

Since the current contract was ratified in 2007, workers have conceded the right to overtime pay after eight straight hours, agreed that new workers can earn half the current union scale, and surrendered annual cost-of-living increases and other benefits, including tuition reimbursement.

On Sunday, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger visited Louisville's UAW Local 862, which is comprised of about 5,000 workers from the two plants, to encourage workers to back the contract changes.

Local 862 represents approximately 12 percent of the 41,000 UAW members voting on the contract.

Opponents have spread the misconception, Gettelfinger said, that the agreement bars workers from walking off the job entirely during 2011 talks. Workers retain the right to strike on issues besides increased wages and benefits, he added.

“We feel we need to get that message out to our membership,” Gettelfinger said.

So far, polling has produced mixed results. Details remain scant as neither Ford nor UAW officials would comment before results are released, which is expected next week.

As of Wednesday, according to the Detroit Free Press, four locals had voted yes, including workers in Indianapolis.

But six locals have voted against the contract, the paper said, including the Kansas City Assembly Plant, which faces the loss of Escape production if the vehicle migrates to Louisville Assembly in 2011.

Rocky Comito, president of the Louisville local, said Wednesday that he hopes workers here approve the contract, to show solidarity with union leaders.

Voting within Local 862 continues through 10 p.m. Friday.

Richard W. Hurd, professor of labor relations at Cornell University, said the overall results will depend on how militant union leadership is nationwide.

He added that the UAW was bound to negotiate similar cuts for Ford workers after concessions were made by GM and Chrysler workers. He noted that the Detroit-based automakers had paid workers comparable wages and benefits for six decades before the recent auto crisis.

In Ford's case, “the UAW International can say it made a good faith effort,” he said.

Reporter Jere Downs can be reached at (502) 582-4669.

The Detroit Free Press and The Associated Press contributed to this story.