DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley late Tuesday said the company’s latest contract proposal presented to the UAW is the “most generous offer in 80 years” and includes a number of union priorities, although a four-day work week is not among them.
Farley, speaking after Ford introduced the freshened 2024 F-150, said the company is offering the UAW pay increases, the elimination of tiered wages, inflation protection, five weeks of paid vacation, 17 paid holidays, bigger contributions for retirement and investments in each of its U.S. plants.
He did not provide specifics.
“It’s a significant, significant enhancement,” Farley said. “I’m still optimistic we’ll get a deal but there is a limit because we have to protect for the future and future investments, and the profitability of the company funds those.”
Ford’s most recent public proposals call for 16 percent wage gains, including bonuses, over the life of the contract, as well as a $6,500 ratification bonus.
Farley said the automaker is not bending to all of the union’s demands.
“A four-day work week is not containable,” he said. “We’re literally fighting for the future of automotive manufacturing in our country. But we’re optimistic we’ll find a way forward. We have 48 hours to go but we’re not going to support a four-day work week.”
Farley said negotiating teams are working around-the-clock to reach a deal before the Sept. 14 deadline and that he’s met at the table with UAW President Shawn Fain.
He said Ford is “absolutely ready for a strike” but he hopes it does not come to that.
“We’ve made a lot of progress but we have more to do,” Farley said. “My team…is working all day and all night for the next 48 hours. They’re sleeping in the company headquarters to get this done.”
The UAW may opt to strike targeted auto plants if it fails to reach new contracts with the Detroit 3 before this week’s deadline, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Fain has vowed to call strikes at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis if no deal is reached when the current four-year labor deals covering 146,000 U.S. workers expire on Thursday at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
The UAW is considering initially targeting only some specific plants for work stoppages at the three Detroit automakers, two sources briefed on the matter said, adding the strike plan could still change.
One UAW local described the plan on Facebook as a “stand up strike.” Fain, who briefed local unions on the talks on Tuesday, is set to announce the union’s strike plan on Wednesday evening. The Detroit Free Press reported the plan earlier.
Targeting strategic plants could quickly force automakers to halt U.S. production and could extend the time before the UAW’s $825 million strike fund is exhausted.
Coordinated strikes would mark the first-ever simultaneous labor stoppage at all three Detroit automakers and one of the largest U.S. industrial labor actions in recent years.
The UAW on Friday rejected revised offers from Stellantis, GM and Ford. GM made a new offer to the UAW over the weekend, but the details were not immediately available.
“We’ve made a lot of progress over the last few days,” GM President Mark Reuss said at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit. “The give and take is really happening.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
