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15 November, 1999First-ever bargaining pact for a three-year period has been reached between the unions and Ford.
GREAT BRITAIN: Trade union negotiators have reached a settlement with Ford for a landmark three-year collective agreement for pay and benefits covering the automaker's 28,000 manual workers in the UK. The agreement is tentative pending ratification by the workers.
The overall deal is worth more than 15% over the three-year period, and offers a reduction in the workweek of 90 minutes, from 39 hours down to 37.5, the first such decrease in 17 years. Basic weekly pay will go up 4% from November 1999, 3.25% in 2000 and 3.5% in 2001. There will be also be improvements in pensions as well as maternity benefits.
The chief union negotiator, Tony Woodley, who is a national officer of the IMF-affiliated Transport and General Workers' Union, said that the agreement marked a further stage in the goal of the trade unions to obtain the 35-hour workweek for the auto industry. He added that "the settlement rewards our people for productivity gains in the past few years which have enabled Ford to make substantial profits from its UK plants," and that it would probably set a pattern for other negotiations in the manufacturing industry.
The overall deal is worth more than 15% over the three-year period, and offers a reduction in the workweek of 90 minutes, from 39 hours down to 37.5, the first such decrease in 17 years. Basic weekly pay will go up 4% from November 1999, 3.25% in 2000 and 3.5% in 2001. There will be also be improvements in pensions as well as maternity benefits.
The chief union negotiator, Tony Woodley, who is a national officer of the IMF-affiliated Transport and General Workers' Union, said that the agreement marked a further stage in the goal of the trade unions to obtain the 35-hour workweek for the auto industry. He added that "the settlement rewards our people for productivity gains in the past few years which have enabled Ford to make substantial profits from its UK plants," and that it would probably set a pattern for other negotiations in the manufacturing industry.