DETROIT (WXYZ) — As the United Auto Workers strike deadline against the Big Three nears, Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley said that the company submitted another offer to the union Tuesday.
Farley, while talking to "ABC News Live," called the offer “the most lucrative offer in 80 years of working with the UAW.” He said the offer includes large pay increases and top 1% health care. The offer also includes profit-sharing, inflation protection, removing tiered labor and five weeks of vacation, Farley said.
“Lot in the offer. But this will be… the most lucrative offer and will require a lot of belt-tightening at the company,” Farley said. “And there's a limit to how far we can go because we have to keep investing for the transition of the industry.”
With about 48 hours left until contracts end at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, negotiations are continuing.
Farley said he's “very optimistic” that a deal will be reached between Ford and the autoworkers union before the deadline.
“Ford has the most UAW workers, autoworkers in the country. We build more vehicles here… so it’s a big deal for the economy and for Ford,” Farley said.
He said it’s time for Ford, the UAW and the entire auto industry to come together to build the future.
“We've put in our first offer a couple of weeks ago and we still haven't found the right deal for both sides. But we're still confident that we can reach a deal because it is so important for the U.S. economy and for our country and for, of course, those 57,000 workers who were the most committed to the UAW,” Farley said. “So it's critical that we find a deal. But there is a limit. As I said, we're not going to mortgage our future.”
When asked about the proposed 32-hour workweek by the UAW, Farley said that is not sustainable for the auto industry.
“Look, we've been very profitable as a company. We're returning from profitable. We didn't go bankrupt — many of our competitors did — and now we built this very competitive, profitable company,” Farley said, adding that more work needs to be done as companies invest in making electric vehicles.
Farley said a strike would be “devastaing,” adding that Ford hasn’t been on strike since the mid-70s.
“Our supply base still hasn't recovered from COVID. We have a lot of vulnerable suppliers still. We have so many communities that depend on Ford and in Michigan and Ohio and all over the upper Midwest. So, this is has a huge impact. You know, any kind of significant outage would,” Farley said.
Tuesday, Ford unveiled the redesigned 2024 F-150 in Detroit's Hart Plaza.
