Ford employees show resolve on pay concessions

Ford Motor Co. has brought a lot of uncertainty into Gerald Williamson’s life.

The factory where he works is on a list of plants slated to be sold or even closed, and like other workers, he’s had to give up part of his pay raises to help the company fund its huge retiree healthcare bill.

So when it came time to vote to give union leaders the power to call a strike if contract talks go south, Williamson got some satisfaction last week out of casting his ballot in favor.

“To try to force us to make any more concessions, it’s unreasonable and we’re willing to shut them down,” said Williamson, 55, who works at a plant that makes instrument panels and other parts in Saline, about 40 miles west of Detroit.

Plenty of United Auto Workers members share his thoughts. At his plant, 99% approved the strike authorization. Voting nationwide wrapped up Friday, but the final tally was not announced. Typically, though, strike authorizations are approved overwhelmingly.

With contracts between the union and Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler set to expire Sept. 14, UAW leaders have asked members during the last few weeks to authorize a strike. It’s standard procedure and doesn’t mean that a work stoppage will occur.

Williamson, a 13-year Ford worker from Ypsilanti, Mich., says he doesn’t want a strike and he doesn’t think the company wants one either.

But like many workers, he’s unhappy that he’s had to give up money while new Ford President and Chief Executive Alan Mulally is making millions.

“When you ask people to make concessions and they help out and chip in, then everyone has to make concessions,” Williamson said after voting Wednesday.

Mulally’s compensation package was valued at $39.1 million during his first four months on the job when he took over last year, according to an analysis of a Ford filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Workers at many Detroit-area factories often refer to executive pay when asked about concessions.

The package also bothers Bill Garner, 54, who voted in favor of a strike. He thinks the salaries of Mulally and other top Ford executives should be cut.

“If they were down more, I don’t think it would be near the issue it is now,” said Garner of Saline, who has seen only one strike in his 35 years at Ford.

When Mulally was asked last week about criticism of his compensation, he said leadership counted.

“All the skills required to run a business are market-driven,” said Mulally, who was hired away from Boeing Co. last year to rescue money-losing Ford.

All three Detroit-area automakers are seeking concessions from the UAW as contract talks continue behind closed doors. They point to what they say is about a $25-an-hour labor cost disadvantage to their prime Japanese competitors. A big chunk of that is the multibillion-dollar long-term retiree healthcare obligation, which the companies want to unload by paying the UAW a lump sum so it can form a trust to pay the medical bills.

Led by Ford’s record $12.6-billion loss last year, the three Detroit automakers lost a collective $15 billion in 2006. Ford had to mortgage its factories to raise enough cash to stay in business.

The losses, brought on by high gasoline prices that sent consumers away from Detroit’s trucks and sport utility vehicles, led to restructuring at all three automakers. Thousands of union workers left under buyout or early retirement programs.

As part of that restructuring, Ford last year took the Saline plant and 16 others from its former parts arm, Visteon Corp., and placed it in a holding company for sale or closure.

Workers at Local 892 in Saline don’t know whether they will have jobs or for whom they may be working in the future. They also don’t know whether they’ll be part of whatever national contract the UAW negotiates.

Yet in Saline, many of the 1,300 hourly workers have some hope. Ford recently has been moving equipment into the plant to make interior parts for new vehicles, the workers say.

Although most workers interviewed after voting last week said they would strike to get what they wanted, some feared the results.

“I would say this would be the worst time in Ford’s history to be on strike,” said Darryl Varney, 38, a worker from Belleville, Mich.

Some were skeptical of the UAW taking on retiree healthcare, while others said they needed more details.

Williamson said if Ford won concessions this year, it would continue to ask for more.

“They would look at that as the way to go,” he said.