More than 1,000 employees at Ford are striking for 24 hours in a dispute over pay and contract changes, with the Unite union warning that more industrial action could follow.
Administrative workers in Dunton (Essex), Stratford, Dagenham (east London), Daventry (Northamptonshire) and Halewood (Merseyside) have walked out for 24 hours over a long-running dispute about pay and contract changes.
The vehicle manufacturer has offered many office workers a one-off payment for 2024, rather than giving them a permanent pay rise, with performance-related pay being imposed from next year for all staff. It is also changing sick pay policy.
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Ford maintains that the total pay increase it has offered is “fair and balanced”, but the Unite union has warned there will be more strikes if the dispute is not resolved.
Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said “corporate greed” was behind Ford’s offer.
“The company’s appalling treatment of our members has simply made them more determined to fight against these cruel and unnecessary changes and for a fair pay rise,” she added.
Managers have also been engaged in industrial action since June after the union said they were offered a performance-related pay award only, which all staff weren’t guaranteed to receive.
Unite said “sensible counter proposals” to end the disputes had been put forward but Ford was “refusing to engage in good faith”.
In a statement, Ford said: “Considering the overall competitiveness of our general salary roll employee pay and benefits package, the company’s final offer of a 5% total pay increase for 2023/24 is fair and balanced.
“We will continue to engage with Unite and our valued employees and endeavour to resolve the matter.”
Europe’s car industry is under strain as a result of the need to switch from petrol to electrically powered vehicles, with Volkswagen in Germany preparing the ground for mass redundancies and factory closures. By 2035, all new vehicles in the EU and in the UK will have to be zero emission (this provision is due to be reviewed in 2026).
According to the EU, most European companies are still lagging behind in electric vehicle innovation. A European Parliament paper published this year stated: “European incumbent companies are struggling to make profitable and affordable electric vehicles, particularly due to the high cost of batteries. Only one of the world’s top 15 battery electric vehicles is made in the EU.”
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