(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Production is set to resume at Chicago's Ford Assembly Plant after United Auto Workers (UAW) and the company reached a tentative deal, which one longtime union member has called a game changer.
Scott Houldieson was outside the UAW Local 551, which represents Ford Assembly Plant workers, on Thursday morning. Houldieson, an electrician, has been a UAW member for 34 years. He said he’s relieved and elated that there’s a tentative deal, one that he said could be life changing for members if it’s ratified.
“The wage increases, the cost of living allowance, [are] huge,” Houldieson said. “The right to strike over plant closings, that’s unheard of. That’s our job security. None of it makes a difference if they can turn around and close the factories down.”
The four-year deal, which still has to be approved by 57,000 union members at the company, could bring a close to the union’s series of strikes at targeted factories run by Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis.
UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, the chief negotiator with Ford, said workers will get a 25% general wage increase, plus cost of living raises that will put the pay increase over 30%, to above $40 per hour for top-scale assembly plant workers by the end of the contract.
“We told Ford to pony up, and they did,” said UAW President Shawn Fain in a video address to members.
Houldieson said Fain’s strategy to target the big three automakers was “brilliant” and “historic.”
“We’re very pleased that we have an agreement, and it looks like it’s going to be a record contract, but we’re waiting to see what the details are,” Houldieson said. “The devil’s in the details on these things, but every indication that we’ve gotten from President Fain and Vice President Browning is that this is a deal like none other, in my career anyway, and I’ve been here 34 years.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram