WAYNE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Contract negotiations remain stalled among the UAW and the Big Three. Ford's CEO Jim Farley claims the UAW is holding negotiations hostage over electric vehicle battery plants and that the automaker has offered a record contract.
UAW president Shawn Fain said Ford and the union remain far apart other issues.
“This is where Biden, I think, could play a pivotal role in bringing the parties together if (EV plants) turns out to be something that’s keeping them apart," Marick Masters, Wayne State University business professor told 7 Action News.
He said without knowing specifics of the negotiations, it’s hard to determine what quandary is. However, Masters said when it comes to Ford’s plan with EV plants there’s a twofold issue.
One, there are plants that are strictly operated by Ford, like the plant under construction in Marshall. Secondly, there are those plants that are a part of joint ventures.
Masters said joint ventures present legal challenges when it comes to union representation at those facilities and how contract agreements are reached when more than two parties are involved.
“It’s going to be hard for them to sort their way of out it. It’s going to be just very very difficult and that’s why I think that you’re gonna have some way to get public policy to address it," Masters said.
Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan, said it’s clear that the move towards electric vehicles is just as important to the UAW as pay and job security.
“The transition to EVs, what’s going to happen at EV assembly facilities, what’s going to happen to UAW jobs as that transition is made has been an important issue to the UAW since day one," he said.
Fain claimed Farley is lying about the state of negotiations.
Workers like Charmonique Demings said her immediate focus hasn't changed.
“The bottom line is how much of a raise we’re gonna get," she told 7 Action News.
