Ford Hiring Move Brings 48% Raise for Hundreds of Workers - Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. , adding jobs before labor contract talks later this year, said it must give raises to as many as 500 U. S. hourly employees because new hiring is pushing the company past its limit on lower-wage workers. Ford’s current contract with the United Auto Workers lets it pay new hires an “entry-level” wage of $15. 78 to $19. 28 an hour, compared with the $28. 50 veteran workers get. Ford’s total hourly additions now total more than 15,000 since 2011, exceeding a pledge of 12,000 by 2015. “Thanks to stronger-than-expected customer demand, we’re adding 1,550 new workers to support additional F-150 production,” Joe Hinrichs, the... Ford said Tuesday that F-Series sales in the U. S. rose 17 percent last month, the pickup’s best January since 2004, the vehicle’s best year. As Ford converted two plants last year to build the new truck, F-Series sales fell 1. 3 percent to 753,851, while it remained the nation’s top-selling vehicle for the 33rd straight year. ‘Strong Product’ “The UAW-Ford 2011 negotiations reaffirmed with Ford the process in which members move to the traditional wage levels,” union President Dennis Williams said Wednesday in a statement. Source: www.bloomberg.com
