Ford, UAW deal signals ‘in-house’ EV work with consistent terms, conditions

Ford and the United Auto Workers union have come to a tentative deal that could end the worker strike against the automaker. The agreement doesn’t include mention of Ford’s upcoming electric vehicle battery factories, but it signals that Ford will do much of its EV work “in-house” according to Cornell University labor and EV transition expert Ian Greer.

Greer is a research professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) who has studied the EV transition in Germany, where worker rights and collective power as union members has played a key role.

Greer says:

“The most important EV-related details are the right to strike over plant closures, two years of income security for people on indefinite layoff, and the elimination of lower wage tiers in the parts plants that are likely to make EV-related components.

“All of this makes it likely that Ford is going to do a lot of EV work in-house with the same terms and conditions as their internal combustion engine vehicle work, which under the old agreement would not have been so clear.

“I’m not seeing anything about battery plants, the EV topic that gets the most attention, but then again Ford is still building its battery plants.”

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