UAW OKs Healthcare Pact at Ford

Ford Motor Co. employees represented by the United Auto Workers narrowly ratified a healthcare agreement that diverts pay raises to help cut company spending on medical coverage by an estimated $850 million a year.

The vote was 51% in favor, the Detroit-based union said. Ford and UAW officials reached the agreement Dec. 9. Active workers will divert 99 cents an hour in future wage increases to a healthcare fund, and retirees will pay as much as $752 a year per family for medical coverage.

“The close vote tells us there’s a lot of anger and apprehension out there,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at UC Berkeley.

Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, is cutting healthcare costs to help stem losses in its North American auto unit, including a $1.2-billion pretax loss in the third quarter. The automaker estimates that its healthcare expenses this year will reach $3.5 billion. Ford provided medical coverage for 550,000 U.S. active and retired hourly workers and dependents.

Chief Executive William Clay Ford Jr. is preparing to announce job cuts and plant closings as part of his second restructuring plan for the automaker since January 2002.

The UAW represents about 87,000 Ford workers. UAW members at General Motors Corp., which also is trying to stem North American losses, approved a similar agreement last month with 61% voting in favor.

Ford shares fell 7 cents to $7.95.

Ford Motor is cutting back in North America as its share of U.S. car and light-truck sales fell to 18.6% through November from 19.7% a year earlier. The company hasn’t had an annual market-share gain since 1995, when it accounted for 25.7% of U.S. sales.

Separately, Ford said Thursday that a computer with information on 70,000 current and former employees was stolen from a company facility. The data included names and Social Security numbers of the employees, it said.

Ford has “no evidence indicating that there has been any identity theft or misuse of employee information as a result of this incident,” spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said.