Ford agrees to restore tuition help for union workers in effort to settle dispute

Ford to restore tuition help for union workers

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will restore college tuition help for factory workers as it tries to settle a dispute over benefits with the United Auto Workers union.

The company notified union Vice President Bob King of the change in a letter sent last week, and The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter. Union leaders were told of the move at a meeting on Thursday in Chicago.

The UAW had agreed to give up the tuition payments and make other concessions to help Ford through tough financial times in 2008 and 2009.

But the company’s fortunes have improved since then. In December it restored merit raises, tuition benefits and 401(k) matches for white-collar workers, bringing a howl of protest from the union. Last month, Ford said it earned $2.1 billion in the first quarter of the year.

The UAW filed a grievance against the company, claiming that restoring benefits to salaried workers violated its contract because union workers gave up similar benefits. How much Ford reimburses white-collar workers for part of their higher education tuition was not immediately available.

Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said Thursday that the company does not believe it violated the UAW contract by restoring the white-collar benefits, but it is working with the union to restore tuition payments. “We don’t have anything final that we can announce at this time,” she said.

A UAW spokeswoman did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

King had said earlier this week that he was very unhappy about Ford restoring the white-collar merit raises while union workers made “tremendous sacrifices.” He said Tuesday that part of the dispute could be settled this week, but some might end up in arbitration.

“We’re working together,” he said. “We’re going to have differences of opinion.”

In 2009, UAW members gave up cost-of-living increases and performance bonuses of 3 percent of base earnings in 2009 and 2010. The union gave up other benefits such as tuition reimbursement and the jobs bank, a program that paid laid-off workers most of their pay even after unemployment benefits ran out, was eliminated.

Ford said at the time that union contract changes were expected to result in annual cost savings of $500 million.