The UAW's blockbuster deal will see Ford workers' pay jump more in 4 years than all pay rises in the past 2 decades combined, the union says

• The United Auto Workers has reached a tentative agreement with Ford on a four-and-a-half year contract.
• The 25% general wage increase is more than Ford workers' total pay rise between 2001 and 2022, the UAW said.
• Temporary workers at Ford are set to see their pay increase by two-and-a-half times.

The United Auto Workers union announced Wednesday evening that it had reached a tentative agreement with Ford — one of the three automakers that have been on strike for almost six weeks.

If approved by union leaders and members, it will see wages increase 25% across the four-and-a-half year contract.

And the UAW says that's a bigger hike than all of its wage increases between 2001 and 2022, which total 23%.

In a video on X, UAW leaders said that the top wage will increase to more than $40 an hour. That would mean a salary of more than $83,200, based on a 40-hour week.

It's a 33% increase when including cost of living adjustments, according to the UAW. And the starting wage for Ford workers will go up by 68% over the term of the contract, the union said.

Although it is Ford's temporary workers who are set to benefit the most, as their wages will increase by two-and-a-half times if the deal is accepted, according to the UAW.

The agreement is less than the 40% increase that union members initially asked for — in line with the pay rise for Big Three CEOs over the past decade, per the Economic Policy Institute — but the UWA says Ford's offer increased by 50% since workers started the strike.

The past 41 days of UWA's industrial action have seen a total of 45,000 workers from Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis walk out across the country, per The New York Times.

Ford's tentative agreement comes after Stellantis and GM workers went on strike on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, at the companies' most profitable plants.

"Ford knew what was coming for them on Wednesday if we didn't get a deal," said Shawn Fain, the union president. "That was checkmate."