Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2011, Monday

Wall Street Journal

October 17, 2011, Monday

Wall Street Journal

'Yes' Vote Likely on Ford Pact
Biggest UAW Local Weighs In, Turning Tide From Early Tallies Against Contract

The UAW said 57% of all voters had supported the new four-year contract, with 20,412 votes tallied by Sunday. Ford has about 41,000 union workers. About a third of the membership had yet to vote or have its vote counted.

After several defeats at several plants in early voting, the contract was in danger of not being ratified. But as more voting came through, the momentum shifted direction.

"It may just have been chance that some of the first plants that happened to be reporting their votes were the ones who were more militant. I'm not so surprised it's a close vote. But it's a pretty good agreement, given the times," said Harry Katz, dean of the Industrial and Labor Relations School at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.