Hundreds of British Ford employees plan to go on strike later this month in a dispute over pay.
Workers have ‘overwhelmingly’ rejected the motoring giant’s offer of a performance-related pay award, according to the Unite union.
Unite said that staff will commence working to rule and an overtime ban on 14 June, adding that the strikes will ‘severely impact’ all of Ford’s UK operations.
Turned down: Ford workers have ‘overwhelmingly’ rejected the motoring giant’s offer of a performance-related pay award, according to the Unite union
The employees taking industrial action work at the firm’s Henry Ford Academy in Daventry and factories in Dagenham and Halewood.
Walkouts are also planned at Ford’s research and development facility in Dunton and its innovation hub in Stratford, East London.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said Ford has ‘decided to try and attack our members’ pay out of sheer corporate greed’.
She added: ‘Performance-related payments give no guarantee of an actual pay rise and leave these workers in danger of facing cuts to their wages.
‘They are absolutely right to take industrial action, and they have the full support of Unite in doing so.’
Unite further claimed Ford had worsened the dispute by not engaging in ‘meaningful negotiations,’ including with the ACAS conciliation service, despite the staff gaining union recognition last year.
Alongside this, Alison Spencer-Scragg, one of its national officers, accused the US carmaker of ‘completely disregarding’ the collective agreement it struck with the employees in 2023.
She said: ‘It is completely unacceptable that Ford is trying to impose a corporate performance model that undervalues this key management group’s contribution to the company’s success.’
Ford said: ‘We regret that it has resulted in this outcome considering the fair and balanced offer made and the competitiveness of our LL6 pay and benefits package.
‘We will continue to engage with Unite and our employees and endeavour to resolve the matter.’
Ford reached a major agreement with the United Auto Workers union last November following a six-week strike that brought activity to a standstill at factories in Chicago, Louisville and Wayne, Michigan.
The walkout was the first national stoppage affecting Ford in the US since 1979 and the first to simultaneously impact all of Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ automotive firms – Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors.
Under the deal, Ford staff will receive a record 25 per cent salary increase over four-and-a-half-years and the right to strike over any plant closures during that period.
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