LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Members of United Auto Workers have voted to ratify new contracts with the Big Three automakers.
The UAW Local 862 in Louisville represents thousands of members at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant and Louisville Assembly Plant.
Last month, members walked the picket line as part of a strike that began at other facilities around the country in September.
They’re now back at work, with a new agreement with Ford, that leaders have called life-changing.
Local 862 President Todd Dunn, who voted for the deal, says locally, skilled trades were in favor of the contract, but production members voted against it,
Dunn said, “They didn’t feel like that their vote mattered, that it was going to pass, anyway. Then you had that negative aspect of people sharing information that was wrong information, misguided information that wasn’t clear, and they came in and voted, anyway. And then you had the folks that were that wanted to see more of the money upfront or the GWI, the general wage increase moved up.”
But Dunn says despite that, he has heard no one say it isn’t a great agreement.
He says active workers get a $5,000 ratification bonus and an immediate general wage increase of 11% that’s retroactive to Oct. 23.
Dunn said “We can go home. We can take care of our families. It’s a career job now. You don’t have to see multiple jobs in one family. You know, you’ve got a spouse, two spouses living together, raising two children, and they’re working two to four jobs, that can kind of be cut.”
The UAW says the 2023 agreement is worth more than the past four contracts combined and has more in general wage increases than Ford workers have received in the last 22 years combined.
The UAW says members at General Motors and Stellantis have also voted to ratify their new contracts, and across the three companies, 64% of voting members voted in favor of the agreements.