Over 1,000 admin staff at Fords were forced to take strike action on 30 October at five sites nationally, over pay and conditions. Ford has not offered its workers a permanent pay increase, instead offering a one-off payment for 2024.
According to Unite, Ford reported a full-year net income of $4.3 billion on revenues of $176 billion for 2023 – an increase of 11.4%.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Despite its huge wealth, Ford has launched a direct attack on its office workers’ pay and terms and conditions. The only reason for this is corporate greed”.
Eleanor Donne and Dave Murray spoke to Unite members on the picket line at the Ford Dunton site
A rep who is on the Unite joint salaried staff national negotiating committee told us: “The company wants to make it all about pay” but the dispute is equally about the strings attached, such as an extension of performance related pay.
We were told that the pay offer is not consolidated, so older workers would lose out in their work’s pensions. There is a ‘two-tier’ workforce as people taken on after 2012 are on less favourable pensions and terms and conditions. The company is also trying to change a longstanding sick pay policy, even though sickness rates are at less than 2%!