UAW head: Ford deal opponents using misinformation

Opponents of a deal between the United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. are spreading misinformation as they campaign against the contract, the union's president said Saturday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said he is pushing the deal because it preserves jobs with product guarantees for several vehicle assembly plants and helps ensure that Ford will be competitive and become profitable in the future.

The deal, if approved by Ford's 41,000 UAW members in voting during the next two weeks, brings Ford close to labor cost parity with General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, both of which got deep concessions from the union as they headed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

Many of the opponents, including some elected leaders at Ford's pickup truck plant in Dearborn, Mich., have urged workers to vote against the agreement, saying it would require too many concessions and would limit the workers' right to strike. Opponents say Ford is profitable yet is asking for more concessions, and that it is time to take a stand against the company.

Gettelfinger said Saturday that opponents are telling workers that the UAW is giving up its right to strike in the next round of contract talks in 2011 - a charge Gettelfinger says is untrue.

"The Ford members retain the right to strike on every issue except improvements in wages and benefits," he said. "Those in opposition to this agreement are using that as an issue."

If a dispute arises over wage and benefit increases, it would go to binding arbitration, Gettelfinger said. The union still has the right to strike over wage and benefit cuts, work rules, safety or other issues, he said, adding that the Chrysler and GM deals include a no-strike clause.

The Ford deal preserves at least 7,000 union jobs with commitments from Ford to build new vehicles at several factories, including those in Flat Rock, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; and Wayne, Mich., Gettelfinger said. The Flat Rock plant, a joint venture with Mazda, had no product beyond the current life cycle of the Ford Mustang because Mazda's participation in the venture is in doubt, Gettelfinger said.

"That's what this agreement is about," he said. "We're trying to fight to keep every plant open that we can."

Ford also is talking with the union about a new vehicle for the Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, near Cleveland, Gettelfinger said.

Opponents, he said, are only saying 'vote no' and not offering other options.

"We're saying this is what you get if you vote 'yes,'" Gettelfinger said.

Leaflets distributed by opponents say Ford is replacing commitments to build vehicles because it canceled earlier commitments due to the recession.

"Unfulfilled commitments were not real - neither are these!" the leaflet says. Some of the commitments, it says, are not specific and only identify "future opportunities," which doesn't give workers much job security.

Gettelfinger said if the deal fails, "the commitments would be gone and we'd be back to the drawing board."

In early voting, workers at two factories in Wayne, Mich. and two more in Brook Park, Ohio, near Cleveland approved the deal, but the Wayne plant voted only 51 percent in favor despite getting commitments for two new vehicles based on the European-designed Ford Focus compact car.

Voting is to wrap up by Nov. 2, the same day Ford is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings. At least one analyst predicted a profit for the company, which could add to the opponents' case against the contract.

But Gettelfinger said he hopes Ford posts a quarterly profit. The company, considered the healthiest of the Detroit Three automakers because it avoided bankruptcy protection, made a surprise $2.3 billion net profit in the second quarter, mainly due to $10.1 billion in debt reductions that cut annual interest payments.

"They have to make money in order for that company to prosper and grow, in order to create jobs," Gettelfinger said in the interview. "I would hope that wouldn't be a negative."

Ford and the UAW announced the agreement last week, and the UAW said about 250 local union leaders from around the country voted to recommend the changes for ratification with little opposition. Workers must approve the changes before they can take effect.

The changes to the union's 2007 labor agreement come on top of concessions the union agreed to earlier this year. The deal also gives workers a $1,000 bonus for ratifying the deal.

But the proposal also freezes entry-level wages and changes work rules to require some skilled-trade employees to do more than one job.

Gettelfinger said production workers are not losing a thing in the deal, and skilled trades workers such as pipefitters or electricians preserve all their job classifications. In the GM and Chrysler deals, the skilled trades classifications were reduced so they must do multiple jobs. The Ford deal calls for skilled trades to work in teams to repair or maintain plant equipment and do other jobs.

He said union leaders won job security promises that would spread from assembly plants to parts factories, at a time when the U.S. auto market will only become more competitive.

"This agreement provides us with the security, and that's the end of the line now," Gettelfinger said. "It's up to each person to sit down and individually reflect on how this impacts them and their families."