Ford hopes dim as workers veto changes
Sunday, 1 November 2009
DETROIT, Oct 31 (AP): Ford Motor Co's hopes for a cost-cutting labour agreement grew dimmer, with a key local union in Kentucky rejecting changes to workers' contracts.
Eighty-four per cent of workers at United Auto Workers Local 862 in Louisville voted against the changes, local President Rocky Comito said late Friday. Comito said workers felt they were being asked to give more than the company's executives.
"Some want to see management give more at the upper level," Comito said. The Louisville local represents 5,000 workers.
Another large local in Ford's home city of Dearborn also was voting Friday. By late Friday night, officials hadn't announced the results for UAW Local 600, which represents 8,000 Ford workers. But workers at the Dearborn Truck Plant, one of the plants represented by Local 600, rejected the contract by a 93 per cent vote, according to Gary Walkowicz, a member of the bargaining committee at the plant who has been leading opposition to the contract changes.
The votes continued a string of defeats for Ford and the UAW, which reached the cost-cutting agreement two weeks ago but need workers to ratify it. Ford has a total of 41,000 workers represented by the UAW.
Eighty-four per cent of workers at United Auto Workers Local 862 in Louisville voted against the changes, local President Rocky Comito said late Friday. Comito said workers felt they were being asked to give more than the company's executives.
"Some want to see management give more at the upper level," Comito said. The Louisville local represents 5,000 workers.
Another large local in Ford's home city of Dearborn also was voting Friday. By late Friday night, officials hadn't announced the results for UAW Local 600, which represents 8,000 Ford workers. But workers at the Dearborn Truck Plant, one of the plants represented by Local 600, rejected the contract by a 93 per cent vote, according to Gary Walkowicz, a member of the bargaining committee at the plant who has been leading opposition to the contract changes.
The votes continued a string of defeats for Ford and the UAW, which reached the cost-cutting agreement two weeks ago but need workers to ratify it. Ford has a total of 41,000 workers represented by the UAW.