Ford UAW members await details of game-changing tentative agreement
WAYNE, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – On Thursday, members of UAW Local 900 packed up all the supplies they used on the picket lines across the street at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant for 41 days. The firewood, tents, and burn barrels will go to other striking workers around Metro Detroit.
Ford UAW workers can't wait to see the details of what they say sounds like a winning contract.
"I was glad that they were able to squeeze every penny that they could, you know, out of the company," said Walter Robinson, a member of UAW Local 900.
To Robinson, a 25% raise that'll bring the top wage at Ford to more than $40 an hour is a sweet deal, as is bringing back the cost of living adjustment.
"It's definitely going be life-changing for the people that came in after 2008. And it's definitely going to be a career and not just a job," Robinson said.
It's the way Stacy Tompkins looks at it, who has worked at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant for 34 years.
"I'm very happy with the contract, and I'm a legacy employee. So, in all actuality, people are gonna say, 'Well, we don't get as much.' But I don't feel that way. I feel we've paved the way for the younger generation, just like my father's generation paved the way for us," Tompkins said.
As the ratification process plays out, Tompkins and others at Local 900 are waiting to receive a robocall with instructions on when and how to return to work.
"I'm sure there's a mad scramble to get production going right away. But first, Ford has to contact its suppliers and make sure they've already called back anybody that they laid off so they can start production. And in fact, those tier-one suppliers are going to have to contact their tier-two suppliers and make sure the same thing happens. And the tier twos contact tier threes. In addition to that, the automakers are going to have to make sure that the truck haulers are ready to start hauling cars from the factories to the dealerships. So there's this big machine that's got to get started again," said John McElroy, an analyst with Autoline.TV.
In the meantime, Local 900 will keep its pantry doors open.
"Once we get back to work, I think we'll be slow running. So it's gonna take time to build back up. And these things like staple things in the household will help lessen the blow," said Ebony Kennedy, Local 900's community service chair.
The UAW National Ford Council will be in Detroit on Sunday. If the council likes the tentative agreement, union leaders will share specifics during a Facebook Live that evening.
Eventually, it'll be up to Ford's 57,000 UAW members to vote on the agreement.
