Ford workers in Missouri, Michigan reject changes

DETROIT (AP) — Autoworkers in Missouri and Michigan overwhelmingly rejected a new contract with Ford Motor Co., a sign that the automaker and the United Auto Workers union are having trouble convincing some workers to accept changes that would lower Ford’s labor costs.

Ninety-two percent of workers at the Kansas City Assembly Plant voted against changes to their contract Sunday. The plant, which makes Ford F-150 pickups as well as the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mariner, employs around 3,700 people, or about 9 percent of Ford’s 41,000 UAW members.

Workers at plants in Livonia and Plymouth also rejected the changes in recent days, according to Gary Wolkowicz, a member of the UAW bargaining committee at the Dearborn Truck Plant and an outspoken opponent of the changes. The vote at the Sheldon Road plant in Plymouth, which makes climate control systems, was 80 percent opposed, while 52 percent of those voting at the Livonia transmission plant were against the deal.

Ford and the UAW agreed to make changes to their 2007 labor agreement two weeks ago, bringing Ford in line with labor cost cuts already agreed to at General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC. But workers must ratify the changes for them to go into effect.

Workers would get a $1,000 bonus if the deal is ratified, but the proposal also would freeze entry-level wages and require some skilled-trades workers to do more than one job. The union also agreed not to strike Ford if the two sides disagree on wage or benefit increases, although the UAW could still strike over other issues.

Jeff Wright, president of UAW Local 249 in Pleasant Valley, Mo., which represents the Kansas City plant, said workers were upset about the wage cap, changes in work rules and the no-strike provision. But he said workers also were angered by local management issues, including a rash of disciplinary hearings in recent weeks.