Ford's UAW-represented work force ratify agreements

To modify the 2007 UAW-Ford National agreement and the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association health care trust

Ford Motor has reported that its UAW-represented work force has ratified agreements to modify the 2007 UAW-Ford National agreement and the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association health care trust.

Joe Hinrichs, group vice president of global manufacturing and labour affairs at Ford, said: By working together with our UAW partners, we identified solutions that will help Ford reach competitive parity with foreign-owned auto manufacturers and that are important to our efforts to operate through the current economic environment without accessing a bridge loan from the US government.

I would like to, once again, acknowledge the leadership of UAW president Ron Gettelfinger and vice president Bob King, as well as the entire UAW leadership and national bargaining committee, during these important negotiations.

Ford Motor, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 213,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s wholly owned automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit.

Earlier, Ford Motor has reported that the total sales of its Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo brands were 90,596 units in January 2009, a decrease of 42.1%, compared to 156,391 units in the same period of 2008.

Ken Czubay, vice president of sales and marketing at Ford, said: During the last four months, retail demand appears to have stabilised and the strength of our new products is a key reason we are growing our share in these challenging market conditions. We expect new, recent and future fiscal and monetary actions to help improve conditions in the second half of the year.