Woodhaven Stamping Plant - UAW-Ford National Programs Center

U AW - F O R D
SIXTY YEARS
OF PROGRESS
1941-2001
© 2001 UAW-Ford National Programs Center.
All rights reserved. A publication of the
UAW-Ford National Programs Center,
151 W. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48232.
www.uawford.com
This book has been designed, written and manufactured
in the United States of America by Union Labor.
UAW Local 509/
Los Angeles PDC
UAW Local 1892/
Maumee Stamping Plant
UAW Local 863/
Sharonville Plant
UAW Local 387/
Woodhaven Stamping Plant
UAW Local 36/
Wixom Assembly
BORN OUT OF
adversity, the relationship
between the UAW and Ford
Motor Company now spans
sixty years. Through the
sacrifice and struggle of the
early UAW pioneers and
their families, an agreement
was reached with the
Ford Motor Company on
June 20, 1941.
Over the years, the UAW and Ford Motor
Company have worked together to meet the
challenge of building great cars and trucks.
But today, more than ever in their history, the
UAW and Ford understand that their goals and
responsibilities go beyond the design and
production of great cars and trucks. They take to
heart two inspiring missions: to support
employees and to dazzle customers.
Supporting employees means many things.
It means supporting education, families,
community involvement. It means encouraging
employees to express the best of themselves,
to pursue with energy, imagination, and good
judgment the perpetual reinvention that it takes
for Ford Motor Company to succeed as a
world-class company. It means that the UAW
and Ford support the daily efforts of their
employees to ensure quality and to satisfy the
needs of their customers.
This book is written to celebrate the
achievements of the hundreds of thousands
of men and women of the UAW and Ford
Motor Company.
This 60th Anniversary is an occasion to
acknowledge the struggles and accomplishments
of the past, and it is an occasion for looking
forward to building on a proud tradition of
working together to produce world-class cars,
trucks and services.
This history book and additional archived photos
will be available online through the UAW-Ford
National Programs Center website at
www.uawford.com.
Foreword
he 60th Anniversary of the Collective
Bargaining relationship between the
UAW and Ford Motor Company is an
occasion for celebration. I congratulate all the
men and women who have contributed to the
making of a great legacy and who have made
possible a great future for UAW-represented
Ford employees.
Sixty years from the signing of the first
agreement between the UAW and Ford Motor
Company, the UAW remains an important and
integral part of our lives today. Thanks to the
courage and hard work of our members, the UAW
can look forward to even more progress in the
new millennium. I was proud when I first joined
the UAW in 1956, and I am truly honored to be
the President of such a great organization today.
As a member of a union family, I am grateful
for the opportunity to serve as a part of our UAW
team. Over the years, your UAW team has
worked with Ford Motor Company to create a
model of labor-management relations that other
companies look to as a standard. In the coming
year, we will be going even farther to lead the way.
The UAW and Ford have a proud past and a
bright future. Once again, I would like to
congratulate all the active and retired UAW
members for all they have contributed over the
years. Each and every one deserves our thanks. I
recognize that making a difference in the world
isn’t possible unless we all work together. I
appreciate everyone’s efforts, and I look forward
to realizing the kind of future that we have
worked so hard, and for so long, to achieve.
T
Sincerely,
Stephen P. Yokich
President
United Auto Workers
4
he 60th Anniversary of Ford Motor
Company’s relationship with the
United Auto Workers union is an
opportunity for us to recognize the people
who have contributed so much over the past
six decades. They deserve our thanks for
building a strong foundation. Today, it is our
job to build a future for our company, our
union, our people, and our communities on
that foundation.
Our industry defined the century with
personal mobility, mass production,
and growing prosperity. In the 21st Century,
new inventions and new technologies are
transforming our business and, once again, we
are changing the world. What hasn’t changed
at Ford is our unique sense of family, and our
belief that we are only as strong as our people.
I am proud of the legacy of Ford Motor
Company and the UAW, and I am committed
to our future together. I feel strongly about
making positive impacts in fundamental yet farreaching ways: taking care of our employees,
supporting our communities, and improving
our environment.
With our collective talent and resources we
can build better cars and better trucks, a better
company and a better world. I know that we can
make a real difference in the 21st Century—for
us, for our children and for our communities.
T
Sincerely,
William Clay Ford, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
5
ll of us in the UAW National Ford
Department have a great deal of personal
respect for the men and women in our
past who forged the way and spent their lives
building our union, so that we could enjoy the
contracts of today. The 60th Anniversary of our
first contract gives us yet another opportunity to
reflect on their sacrifices and struggles, as well as
express our appreciation for their commitment.
It is our responsibility to continue that same
dedication and strengthen our union for future
generations.
The steadfast resolve of those who built our
union and those who followed them created the
foundation that exists for our membership and
leadership to face the future together in
solidarity. The UAW is strong, spirited and
visionary, and we are grateful for the
opportunity to play a role in serving our
membership in this challenging new century.
It is an exciting ever-changing time to be a
UAW member employed at Ford Motor
Company. As a union, we are bringing an
uncompromising vigilance to the issues of
health and safety in the workplace, and the
quality of the products and services that we
offer. We are also expressing our commitment to
diversity in real, down-to-earth terms. Our 1999
negotiations theme of “Bargaining for Families”
resulted in unprecedented gains for our
members, our families, retirees and the
communities in which we live and work.
On behalf of the National Ford Department
staff and clerical, I would like to congratulate all
of our members for their dedication and
support of our union over the last 60 years. In
this new millennium we are privileged to uphold
the traditions of all of those who came before us
by paving the way for those who will follow.
A
Fraternally and sincerely,
Ron Gettelfinger
UAW Vice President
Director, National Ford Department
6
or the past sixty years, Ford Motor
Company and the UAW have combined
forces to produce the best products in
the world. We owe a debt to those who came
before us. To repay that debt, we must continue
to work together, to make Ford Motor Company
a world leader.
Ford and the UAW are continually refining
the processes in which each member of
the workforce can draw on his or her knowledge
and experience in improving manufacturing
operations. Our goal is to give our customers the
best cars, trucks, and services in the industry,
and more. We want to give them what they want
in quality, product innovations, services,
environmentally responsive policies and
community engagement.
Together we have the capacity and the vision
to make Ford Motor Company the world’s
leading consumer company for automotive
products and services.
The people of Ford Motor Company and the
UAW understand our place in history. We are
grateful for the opportunities to meet the
challenges of an ever-evolving industry, to
collaborate and innovate with our fellow
employees, and to work hard to make our
company the best in the world.
F
Sincerely,
Jacques Nasser
President and CEO
Ford Motor Company
7
am proud to join Ford Motor Company and
the UAW in celebrating the 60th anniversary
of their durable and successful partnership.
Visteon will soon mark its first complete year as
an independent company, and we will continue
to build on the trust and mutual respect from
which this relationship has grown.
Visteon’s vision is to become the world’s
leading supplier of integrated automotive
systems. To get there we must meet and exceed
the expectations of our customers. The UAW
can and will play an integral role in delivering
better quality, service and technology than
our competitors.
We at Visteon are just beginning to build our
legacy. We won’t hesitate to embrace new
processes and technologies that will help us
better serve our customers. Yet we will
maintain and improve upon the best elements of
our heritage from Ford. The best example of
that is the labor-management bond we are
commemorating today.
I want to thank the UAW leaders with whom
I have bargained over the years for their
unwavering role in creating this strong
partnership. These include Steve Yokich, Ernie
Lofton, Ron Gettelfinger, Doug Fraser and
Owen Bieber.
Again, I am proud to have played a modest
part in building this partnership, and I look
forward to many more years of mutual success.
I
Sincerely,
Peter J. Pestillo
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
Visteon Corporation
8
UAW Local 882/Atlanta Plant
Contents
UAW Local 174/
Vulcan Forge Plant
UAW Local 182/
Livonia Plant
The Beginning
10
The Years of War, Peace, and Prosperity
28
The Evolution of
Modern Collective Bargaining
65
The Future
89
UAW Local 600/
Dearborn Assembly Plant
It all starts with the
individualist from
Dearborn, Michigan,
born July 30, 1863
The Beginning
The first Ford, a Quadricycle, 1896
TWO CYLINDERS.
Four bicycle wheels. A leather
drive-belt. A wooden cabinet to sit
on. On April 2, 1896, Henry Ford, an
employee of the Edison lluminating
Company, took hold of an ax and
knocked out the narrow doorframe
of his woodshed behind 58 Bagley
Avenue, his home in Detroit. And
then, with his wife, Clara, watching,
he pushed his Quadricycle out into
the light of history.
THE FIRST FORD
Henry Ford, who had moved with Clara
from Dearborn to Detroit in 1891, did not
invent the automobile.
Henry had a gift for assimilating the ideas of
others and an obsession with improving upon
them. For years, Henry, along with three
friends from Edison Illuminating Company,
had been working with small engines and
ignition systems until they decided to build
their own car, which turned out to have
significant advantages. That two-cylinder,
bike-wheeled buggy that Henry pushed out of
his woodshed in 1896 was lighter, faster, and
made of cheaper materials than other cars of
the time. It weighed 500 pounds. It could go
twenty-miles an hour. And, most importantly,
it got Henry Ford thinking.
11
First Ford factory on Mack Avenue, Detroit.
Henry Ford and
his 1901 Racer.
Henry Ford,
right, with
Barney Olfield
and the 999 race
car, 1902.
Henry Ford
built this car in
1907 and used
it in winning
the famous
Selden Patent
Lawsuit, which
broke Selden’s
monopoly on
the infant auto
industry.
12
His first two automobile companies failed,
but he won fame with his 1902 red racer, the
999, in which Henry himself managed to exceed
60 miles an hour.
The first Ford Motor Company factory was
built at Bellevue and Mack Avenue. More than
5000 Ford runabouts were sold by 1905. In
1908, two things happened that changed
everything. First, the Model T was designed, at
$850, to be a car the average person could afford
to own. It was a vehicle that would change lives
and alter the American landscape. Second,
Walter Flanders, the leading industrial engineer
in America at the time, was hired to redesign
production, and, by 1913, the first moving
assembly line was proving its power by cutting
production time in half. The world—both
outside the factories and in them—would never
be the same again.
Highland Park Plant.
Assembly of magnetos, 1914.
Part of a day’s production of Model T’s at the
Highland Park plant, 1913.
Crankshaft Plant, Highland Park, 1914.
The Highland Park Ford plant was the
birthplace of the moving assembly line.
Designed by the noted architect Albert
Kahn, the plant was made entirely of
steel, concrete and glass. It was the
largest building in Michigan at the time,
with 50,000 square feet of glass in its
walls and ceilings. By 1920, the plant was
producing a car every minute, and one
out of every two automobiles in America
was a Model T. The plant was designated
a National Historic Landmark in 1978.
Chicago Assembly, 1917.
In 1913, Henry Ford introduced the assembly line
at the Ford Plant in Highland Park, Michigan.
THE ARRIVAL OF UNIONISM
Auto workers first tried to organize into
unions in 1913. At Ford’s Highland Park plant,
union organizers distributed leaflets and
handbills, but they were arrested by police. To
keep them from the influence of organizers, the
company didn’t let Ford workers leave the plant
during lunch or breaks. At that time, workers
were earning twenty to twenty-five cents an
hour, or about two dollars a day.
Final Line Testing, Highland Park Plant, 1924.
Eugene Debs, pictured here during his 1912
campaign for president, was the father of
industrial unionism in North America.
14
The Industrial
Workers of the World
(IWW), right, and
the Carriage and
Wagon Workers
Union, above, were
among the earliest
predecessors of the
auto unions.
Henry Ford on the plant floor.
HIGHLAND PARK AND THE ROUGE
Henry Ford was by this time envisioning the
construction of a superplant. In 1915, the
Highland Park plant was the world’s largest
factory complex, making a quarter of a million
Model T’s a year. When war was declared in
April of 1917, the plant also made steel helmets,
ammunition boxes, airplane engines, tractors,
and gas masks. But Henry wanted to control the
raw material that went into production: rubber,
wood, coal, and iron. And that required
something that had never before been built.
Henry bought land for a large manufacturing
complex on the banks of the Rouge River, which
flowed into the Detroit River. The Rouge
Complex was designed by Albert Kahn, who
designed the Highland Park Plant. This was the
beginning of a tumultuous period in the
development of Ford Motor Company.
Internally, there were power struggles, which
resulted, by 1919, in the consolidation of
ownership in the hands of the Ford family. The
year of 1920 saw Ford reorganized as a
corporation, and it saw the first operations of
the steel-production part of the Rouge complex.
Five years after Henry Ford imagined it, the
Rouge complex was beginning to rumble to life.
Ford Trimotor, 1920s.
Model A Line at the Dearborn Assembly Plant, 1928.
Ford Tractor
assembly,
1920s.
Model A Assembly, 1928-29.
A NEW MODEL AND HARD TIMES
The last Model T (number 15,007,033) came
off the line in May of 1927, and 60,000 Ford
workers were laid off. The city of Detroit saw its
welfare roll expenses increase by a million
dollars as a result of the unemployed workers.
In 1928, when the Model A was introduced,
to be manufactured at the now-complete Rouge
complex, most laid-off workers reapplied for
work. Foremen and superintendents, if rehired,
were rehired as production workers.
And then, in 1929, the stock market crashed.
16
Workers were again laid off, and wages were
cut. Some men were working 14-hour days for
ten cents an hour.
At the depth of the Depression, Ford shut
down for five months to switch from the Model A
to the V8. Thousands of people were in dire straits.
Many groups were protesting the
unbearable conditions of the times. On March
7, 1932, protesters in a Hunger March
approached the gates of the Rouge to petition
for relief. Four marchers were shot, and a fifth
died later of injuries.
On March 7, 1932, thousands
of workers marched to Ford’s
Rouge Plant, chosen as a
symbolic target of their protest
for jobs and relief in the
aftermath of the Depression.
Police threw gas. Protesters
responded with rocks. Police
and guards then fired
hundreds of shots into the
crowds. At least 50 were
wounded. Four died on the
spot, and a fifth died later from
injuries.
The Great
Depression
In September
1933, a year and
a half after the
Hunger March,
over 10,000
unemployed war
veterans form a
line over two
blocks long to
apply for jobs at
Ford. Henry
Ford had
announced that
he would hire
5,000 local
veterans at
$3 a day.
Ford Model T with early
Ford service mark.
Akron Tire Company
promotional poster.
Model T Ad.
1935.
Early
Ford Motor Company
Advertising
18
1924.
Akron Tire Com
pa
promotional pos ny
ter.
Early Union
Handbills
19
The first National Council Meeting of the United Automobile
Workers Federal Labor Union, 1934.
THE NEW DEAL
With the boost from President Franklin
Roosevelt’s New Deal social programs, the
country managed to struggle out of the pits of
the Depression. Workers across America were
reinvigorated with the mission to organize into
unions. And the unions were legitimized and
given real bargaining leverage with the passage
of the National Labor Relations Act.
Ford Motor Company, however, refused to
recognize the labor unions. The Ford Service
Department, headed by Harry Bennett, kept the
workers under strict surveillance and practiced
systematic intimidation to keep the workers
from organizing.
This Charter established the UAW
as an International Union, dated
August 26, 1935.
20
THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Three-years old when his father built the 1896 Quadricycle, Edsel
Ford grew up around his father’s workshop. Edsel was driving at
ten and had his own car at fifteen. In 1912, Edsel decided to forego
college in order to work in his father’s company. He became the
president of the company when he was twenty-five-years old.
On January 18, 1937, President Edsel Ford
posed in the 25 millionth Ford passenger
car with his father, Henry Ford, in his first
car built in 1896.
Edsel and his father shared a complex relationship.
Overshadowed by the man who had invented the Model T and
changed the world, Edsel struggled to make his own mark on the
company and in the industry.
“Father made the most popular car in the world,” Edsel once said.
“I want to make the best.”
To that end, Edsel established his own design studio and set to
work. In 1932, Diego Rivera, the artist who had been
commissioned to produce a mural based directly on the Rouge
factories for the courtyard of the Detroit Institute of Arts, visited
Edsel’s studio and found him working on early designs of a new
swooping, sensuous Lincoln coupe. Impressed by Edsel’s good
character and kindness of spirit, Rivera created a painting of Edsel
working in his studio. Rivera felt that Edsel was an artist in his
own right.
Proving Rivera right, Edsel finalized his early sketches of a new
Lincoln and worked with a world-class designer to build it. He
brought out the Lincoln Zephyr in 1935. The Museum of Modern
Art called the Zephyr “the first successfully designed streamlined
car in America.”
Edsel was indeed making his mark. But his crowning achievement
was yet to come: the Lincoln Continental of 1939.
21
Several Headquarters for
Early Organizing Drives
The Second
Annual
Convention of
the International
Union United
Automobile
Workers of
America,
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, 1937.
Roy, Victor and Walter Reuther
at the UAW’s 1937 Convention,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
22
“Watch the Fords Go By,” a lithographic billboard by A.M. Cassandre for Ford Motor Company, 1937.
1937 Ford Coupe.
Robert Kantor, Walter Reuther,
Richard Frankensteen and J.J. Kennedy.
THE BATTLE
OF THE OVERPASS
On May 26, 1937, around fifty union supporters, mostly
women, were led by organizers Walter Reuther and Richard
Frankensteen. They had been granted a city permit to
distribute union handbills to Ford workers at the Rouge Plant.
Union organizers Reuther, Frankensteen, Robert Kantor, and
J.J. Kennedy walked onto an overpass above Miller Road,
which ran the length of the Rouge Plant. Despite the presence
of many newspaper reporters and photographers, Ford
servicemen surrounded and severely assaulted the union men.
Other Ford servicemen attacked handbillers at the gates, beat
up many people, and knocked down and kicked some of the
women who had come to distribute the handbills. Sixty
people were treated for injuries. 207 handbillers were
arrested during this period.
24
Two hours before the Battle of the Overpass, May
26, 1937, Walter Reuther handed out leaflets to
members of the UAW Women’s Auxiliary.
Because the event was photographed and communicated to
the nation and the world, the Battle of the Overpass became
a seminal rallying point for union organizers everywhere.
Even today, the images convey the dark spirit of the times in
which the union pioneers were struggling to survive.
Ford Service
Department
men beat up
Richard
Frankensteen.
A member of the Women’s Auxiliary of the
UAW identifies the Ford Service Department
men who pushed her onto a streetcar, 1937.
Early CIO and UAW leaders, left to right,
UAW President Homer Martin,
UAW First V.P. Wyndham Mortimer,
UAW Second V.P. Ed Hall,
CIO Publicity Director Len DeCaux,
UAW Secretary-Treasurer George Addes,
Adolph Germer of the CIO, CIO Chairman
John L. Lewis, Attorney Lee Pressman, and
CIO Director Joseph Brophy.
Homer Martin became
aligned with a faction in
opposition to the Committee
for Industrial Organization
(CIO) and wound up in
league with Harry Bennett
in the creation of an
internal company union at
Ford. This newspaper
reported on the outcome of
a labor-board investigation
into this and related
matters of the time.
1939 was the year that Ford Motor
Company was held guilty of violating
the National Labor Relations Act in
Detroit. Ford appealed the decision.
The decision was upheld in the Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, and, in
February of 1941, the U.S. Supreme
Court declined to review the case.
While Reuther and others were
actively working on strengthening the
union in the plants, the stage was
being set for the company and the
union to meet head on.
1939 Ford Convertible Coupe
Assembly Line, V-8, 1940.
THE START OF A NEW ERA
Henry Ford and Edsel Ford
By the middle of the
Thirties, there were few
Model T’s left to be seen
on the roads. Other
models had taken the
place of the historic icon.
“I see by the new Sears
Roebuck catalogue that it is still
possible to buy an axle for a 1909 Model T Ford,
but I am not deceived,” wrote E.B. White in a famous
1936 essay published in The New Yorker. “The great
days have faded, the end is in sight. Only one page in
the current catalogue is devoted to parts and
accessories for the Model T; yet everyone remembers
springtimes when the Ford gadget section was larger
than men’s clothing, almost as large as household
furnishings. The last Model T was built in 1927, and the
car is fading from what scholars call the American
scene—which is an understatement, because to a few
million people who grew up with it, the old Ford
practically was the American scene.”
By the end of the Thirties, the American scene was to
change its character again. The rise of the UAW was
imminent. Walter Reuther was fast becoming a public
figure. And the rise of Edsel’s son, Henry Ford II, was in
the making.
Henry Ford II, Henry Ford and Edsel Ford
Walter Reuther is pictured celebrating his first election to UAW President in 1946. He held that office
until his death in 1970. Reuther is riding on the shoulders of Brendan Sexton, president of UAW
bomber Local 50 at Willow Run, and to the left of Sexton is Walter’s brother, Roy Reuther.
The Years of
War, Peace,
and Prosperity
Henry Ford II is pictured here in 1945 at age
twenty-eight at the Rouge complex. He led the
Ford Motor Company from 1945 until 1975.
The signing of the first UAW-Ford
Agreement, World War II, and the
transformative years of a strong
and vital post-WWII America
Michael Widman, on left with his tie undone, and
Richard Leonard, standing at the microphone, 1941.
William
McKie
David
Miller
Francis
Dillon
Richard
Frankensteen
Who was First? The complex origin of the UAW at Ford
In the early years in order to organize the workers at
Ford, Bill McKie and David Miller, both Ford workers,
approached Francis Dillon, the AFL organizer (who was
to become the first UAW president in 1935). The AFL
(American Federation of Labor) had been founded in
1881. Dillon told them that workers were to be divided
according to craft.
McKie and Miller believed that divisions would make
for a weak union. Believing in strength in numbers, they
wanted to organize Ford workers into a single industrial
union.
So, with McKie as the elected president and Miller
vice-president, their small group applied for a federal
charter from the AFL in Washington, D.C. In 1935,
Congress had passed the Wagner Act and created the
National Labor Relations Board. The Wagner Act
strengthened the ability of unions to organize production
workers. Eventually, McKie’s small Ford group received a
federal charter and, in 1935, became Federal Local 19374,
the precursor to UAW Local 600.
30
At the 1935 AFL convention, John L. Lewis, president
of the United Mine Workers, and other industrial unions
defied the AFL and set up the Committee for Industrial
Organization (CIO). The CIO was formed by AFL-affiliated
unions seeking to organize workers in steel, rubber, auto,
and mass-production industries.
The AFL and the CIO were rivals from the start. The
1936 convention marked the founding of an independent
UAW. Homer Martin was elected to be the UAW-CIO
president. Vice presidents were Ed Hall, Wyndham
Mortimer, and Walter Wells, with George Addes as
secretary-treasurer.
In September of 1936, Walter Reuther, in his late twenties,
was elected president of the UAW local 174, a west side
Detroit local. In 1937, Homer Martin appointed Richard
Frankensteen the UAW director of organizing for Ford. In
1939, at the UAW convention, R.J. Thomas was elected
president. In 1940, Michael Widman was appointed UAW
director of organizing for Ford. In 1941, Richard Leonard
became the UAW Ford Director.
THE FORD FAMILY
Henry Ford and Clara Jane Bryant married in 1888
and, in 1893, had one son, Edsel Bryant Ford.
Edsel married Eleanor Clay in 1916. They had four
children: Henry II, Benson, Josephine Clay, and
William Clay. Edsel was 25-years old when he
became president of Ford Motor Company in 1918,
and he held that position for the rest of his life. He
was in charge of sales, marketing, and accounting,
and he also developed a sense of design, an area
in which he contributed much during his years at
Ford, including the design of the classic 1939
Lincoln Continental. He died in 1943.
Henry II married Ann McDonnell in 1940. They had
three children: Charlotte, Anne, and Edsel Bryant
Ford II. When Henry II became president of Ford in
1945, he did so on the condition that he would be
free to make any changes in the company that he
saw fit, which meant that Harry Bennett would
have to go.
William Clay Ford married Martha Firestone in
1947, the year Henry Ford passed away. They had
four children: Martha Parke, Sheila Firestone,
William Clay, Jr., and Elizabeth Hudson. As vice
president and general manager of the Continental
Division, William Clay drew on his father’s 1939
Continental design when he oversaw the
development of the 1956 Mark II.
Henry Ford II and his grandfather look over a
model of the Rouge complex.
The brothers Henry Ford II
and William Clay Ford.
Pictured are the UAW African-American
Organizers who spearheaded the effort to build
support for the UAW in the African-American
community and the Rouge Complex.
Left to right: Joseph Billups,
Walter Hardin, Christopher Alston,
Veal Clough, Clarence Bowman,
Leo Bates, and John Conyers, Sr.
Michael Widman, Walter Reuther, and
George Addes, 1941.
UAW Secretary-Treasurer
George Addes and Richard Leonard,
who was in charge of the Ford
organizing drive, distribute union
leaflets at the Rouge plant.
32
Women played a crucial role in the
organizing drives.
In May of 1941, the union won elections
in preparation for the negotiations with
Ford Motor Company. Holding the
banner, on the left is Michael Widman.
On the right, R. J. Thomas.
ORGANIZING BEFORE THE 1941 AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE UAW AND FORD
By the end of 1937, the UAW had 300,000 members. But from 1937 to 1941, over fourthousand Ford workers were fired for suspected union membership. During this time, the
UAW was beset by struggles for leadership. In 1940, Michael Widman led the organizing
drive at Ford, the last of the auto companies to resist recognizing the unions. Leaflets and
handbills were distributed relentlessly. Workers wore union buttons to work. Within a few
months, several thousand had joined the UAW. On April 1, 1941, Harry Bennett, head of the
Ford Service Department, fired eight members of the Rouge grievance committees, and
UAW workers at the Rouge went on strike.
Henry Ford had resigned from the presidency in 1918. Since that time, his son Edsel had
acted as the company president. But Henry maintained strong control and influence over
key company decisions and policies, effected and enforced through Harry Bennett. When
the 1941 Rouge strike broke, Edsel rejected the hard line taken by Bennett and argued to
persuade his father to settle with the union. Ten days after the strike had begun, Ford
Motor Company agreed to recognize a grievance procedure in which unresolved issues
were to be mediated. Workers returned to the plant, with the understanding that a full
contract would be negotiated after the UAW held its elections in May.
33
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1941.
Standing, from left to right : William Ducharme, James Cowbray, James G. Couser, Alfred Bardelli, Percy Llewellyn, James Sullivan, Frank Morgan,
Anthony Leone, Arthur J. McNally, George J. Buckwick, Joseph D. Twyman, Carl Lee Smith, Martin Jensen, Frank Neuman, William Taylor,
George Sherinian, Joseph A. Lynch. Seated from left to right: Samuel M. Bitner, Richard T. Frankensteen, George F. Addes, Allan S. Haywood,
Shelton Tapps, Philip Murray, R. J. Thomas, Richard T. Leonard, Michael F. Widman, Jr.
THE SIGNING OF THE FIRST AGREEMENT
Negotiations began on June 1, 1941. UAW
Ford Director Richard Leonard led the UAW
team. Harry Mack headed the Ford team, but
Harry Bennett supervised.
In the negotiations, the Company granted an
almost totally closed union shop, agreed to pay
back wages to more than 4,000 workers
wrongfully discharged, and committed to a
grievance procedure. The Company also agreed
to match the highest wage rates in the industry
and to deduct union dues from workers’ pay.
The terms were the most generous in the history
of industrial relations.
But Henry Ford still had to agree to the terms.
When Bennett brought the terms to Henry
Ford, who had taken no part in the negotiations,
34
Henry Ford rejected them out of hand. That
night, his wife Clara pressed him on the union
issue. She knew that Edsel wanted to settle, and,
having followed the long battles over the years,
she had had enough of the rancor and violence.
Clara sided with Edsel in favor of ending the
strike and pressured Henry to settle.
But Henry’s consideration was influenced by
other factors, as well. Thousands of pro-union
workers had filed claims with the courts. Ford
had defense contracts the government
threatened to revoke if Ford didn’t improve its
labor policies. And, by 1941, labor was a major
force in American life. Ford was the only auto
company that hadn’t yet settled with the UAW.
The agreement was signed on June 20, 1941.
Left to right: Richard Leonard,
Allan Haywood, Philip Murray, Harry Bennett,
R. J. Thomas, and George Addes.
Signing of the
First National Agreement, 1941
Seated, left to right:
Philip Murray, Harry Bennett,
R. J. Thomas, George Addes.
The UAW National Negotiating team at Ford, 1942.
From left to right: Emil Mazey, Harold Bessey, W.G. Grant, Percy Llewellyn, John Brinly, Frank Ellis, Forest Doren,
Thomas Thompson, secretary, M.A. Williams, William Kimberling, Richard T. Leonard, director, UAW-CIO Ford Department,
and William McKie. Not Pictured: Joseph Twyman.
Scenes from factory work,
1943-1944
FACTORIES SUPPORT
THE WAR EFFORT
On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes bombed
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and drew the United States into
World War II.
The last car off the line before the company
converted to wartime production.
Between 1942 and 1945, the auto companies dedicated their operations to the war effort, the UAW
agreed to a no-strike pledge. Ford produced no cars for civilian use. Instead, they manufactured
military equipment, including tanks, trucks, engines, bombs, airplanes, and ammunitions.
Before the end of war, the elder Henry Ford and Harry Bennett left Ford Motor Company for good, and,
in 1945, Henry Ford II brought in a talented new management team. The new, young managers were
more disposed to accept and work with the UAW. By the end of the war, UAW membership was over
1.2 million, of whom about 350,000 were women. The UAW had become the largest union in the world.
36
Touring the Willow Run bomber plant, UAW Local 50,
in the fall of 1942 are, left to right, Under-Secretary of War
Robert Patterson, Henry Ford, Michigan Governor Murray Van
Waggoner, UAW President R.J. Thomas, and Edsel Ford.
Foundry worker, 1944.
B-24 bombers were built by members of
UAW Local 50 at Willow Run, Michigan.
Women worked in the plants in large numbers during the war.
A veteran of WWII in a Ford plant.
The
Whiz
Kids
38
The Whiz Kids, in the first row, a group of Ford Executives from left to right: Arjay Miller,
F “Jack” Reith, George Moore, James Wright, Charles “Tex” Thornton, Wilbur Anderson,
Charles Bosworth, Ben Mills, J. Edward Lundy, Robert McNamara. Jack Davis is in the
second row between Wright and Thornton.
1946 Ford Sportsman
Convertible, with
maple and mahogany
wood paneling.
THE PROMISE
OF PEACE
In the postwar period, the country
was ready to return to normalcy.
Ford advertisements capitalized on
the allure of a bright future for those
making a transition from the
sacrifices of war to the prosperities
of a quickly growing middle class,
which included more and more auto
workers who now had solid earnings
and job security. Home ownership
increased, and many workers now
drove their own cars to work.
39
REUTHER ELECTED
UAW PRESIDENT
Born on the eve of Labor Day,
September 1, 1907, in Wheeling,
West Virginia, Walter Reuther grew up
a member of the working class just as
the modern factory with its new
processes, unique environments, and
productive capacities came into being.
At 19, he was hired as a die maker by
Ford Motor Company for the production
of the Model A in the Rouge.
By 1946, Walter Reuther had a strong
reputation in the UAW and had been
elected its president. In the 1947
convention, UAW President Walter
Reuther battled the Thomas-Addes
faction for control of the union.
Leadership was fractious and bitter.
Under the slogan, “Teamwork in the
leadership and solidarity in the
ranks,” Reuther promised an end to
factional infighting. And he won. With
this victory, Reuther made possible
the creation of a more cohesive,
democratic UAW.
Reuther Slate supporters,
UAW Convention, 1947.
Voter registration for
Lincoln workers of UAW
Local 900, 1947.
40
Emil Mazey, Leonard Woodcock, and Walter Reuther,
UAW Convention, 1947.
On April 20, 1948, Reuther barely escaped
assassination. Home from an evening union meeting,
he was standing in his kitchen when a gunman fired a
shotgun through the window. Reuther’s right arm was
shattered. Even after years of rehabilitation, his arm
never regained full strength. Thirteen months later,
Victor Reuther was shot in his Detroit home. He was
shot in the eye, but he survived. Neither shooting was
solved by investigation, and no one was ever
prosecuted. Reuther, arm in a brace, is pictured here
with Ken Bannon in July of 1948.
The 1949
Speedup
Strike
In the winter of 1948, the union
identified pension plans as its next
goal in bargaining with Ford.
On September 29, 1949, under the
threat of a strike, Ford agreed to
company-paid pension plans for
workers. Seated, left to right:
UAW Ford Director Ken Bannon;
Walter Reuther; Ford Vice-President
John Bugas; and Mel Lindquist,
Ford manager of industrial relations.
Standing, between Bugas and Reuther,
is a very young William Clay Ford.
The 1949 UAW Convention.
42
1949 Mercury Station Wagon
1949 Club Coupe
1949
Henry Ford II is pictured here in 1952, the year
“automation” became a buzzword for Ford Motor
Company. Implementation of the concept of
automation began at the Buffalo stamping plant
and continued with the construction of the
Cleveland engine plant in 1952. In 1947, 97,000
production workers built about one million Ford
cars and trucks. By 1960, 120,000 workers
doubled production to 2.2 million.
Cars and trucks coming off the line, 1950.
First UAW Ford Pensioner, 1950.
Ford Motor Company Administration Committee, 1953.
From left to right, in the first row: William Clay Ford, Ernest Breech, Henry Ford II, Benson Ford; in the second row: J.R. Davis,
L.D. Crusoe, W.T. Gossett, J.S. Bugas, D.S. Harder, T.O. Yntema, I.R. Duffy; in the third row: W.A. Williams, J. Dykstra,
R.H. Sullivan, A.J. Weiland, E.S. MacPherson, S.W. Ostrander, C.F. Moore, Jr., R.S. McNamara.
Edsel
Ford
1939 Lincoln Continental Convertible
1955 Lincoln Continental Mark II
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
On October 2, 1939, Edsel Ford unveiled his
Continental. It was Edsel’s finest design
achievement. Long, low, and sculpted, the
Continental had a twelve-cylinder engine and a
smooth, gliding ride. It was a enduring classic
statement, and people loved it.
It was such an enduring statement and so
well-loved that, in the decades following its
creation, people begged for new models that
were based on it.
In the early Fifties, responding to customer
demand, William Clay Ford and his design team
returned to his father’s 1939 Continental. They
took cues from its proportions, its long hood
and short rear deck. They incorporated one of
its most distinctive features, its rear-mounted
spare-tire container. Their intention for the
Mark II, called “II” in recognition of the 1939
Continental as the “I,” was to resurrect Edsel’s
graceful triumph, and their goal was to make a
serious mark on the luxury-car market.
William
Clay Ford
While the design achievement of the Mark II
could not be denied, commercial success would
not be achieved until the Mark III. In the late
Forties, the public image of the company was
embodied by Henry Ford II and his Whiz Kids.
In the Fifties, the three Ford brothers came to
represent the company’s public image. Benson
Ford had been in charge of the Mercury division
since 1948. William Clay Ford headed the
Continental division. But, soon after the launch
of William Clay’s Mark II, the Continental
division was folded into the Lincoln division,
and the Mark II got lost in the shuffle.
Benson Ford stepped down from Mercury in
1956 to head Lincoln-Mercury dealer relations
while William Clay Ford left Continental to
become a vice-president in the Styling division.
Ten years passed until, in April of 1968, the
Lincoln Continental Mark III came out. It was
an instant commercial success. It outsold the
Cadillac Eldorado and established Ford Motor
Company firmly in the luxury-car market.
47
Introduced in 1955, the
Thunderbird, with its
distinctive design and
its V8 engine, became
an instant classic. It
was a new kind of
sports car, one that
incorporated luxury and
elegance. From 1955
through 1966, it went
through a series of
refinements and
reinterpretations.
Revived for inspiration
in the new millennium, a
Thunderbird will once
again be bringing its
unique blend of style
and luxury to the
streets. The Ford
Heritage website
maintains a history of
the Thunderbird,
including vintage ads, at
www.fordheritage.com.
The 1955 Thunderbird
UAW President Walter Reuther and
UAW Ford Director Ken Bannon, 1955.
In 1955, Albert Einstein died,
President Eisenhower had a heart
attack, the stock market crashed,
and the AFL and CIO combined. In
the 1955 negotiations between the
UAW and Ford, the significant
gain was the Supplemental
Unemployment Benefits program.
The philosophy behind SUB was
that auto workers should not be
penalized for being unemployed
due to conditions beyond their
control. It was a major gain for the
union. Time magazine put Reuther
on its cover because of it. And it
was timely. From 1956 to 1959, the
company paid out more than $105
million to unemployed workers,
mainly as a result of the 1958
recession, during which national
unemployment rose to 7 percent.
1955 Contract Signing
Ford Vice President John Bugas and UAW President Walter Reuther sign the 1955 Agreement.
To the right of Reuther is UAW Ford Director Ken Bannon and Gene Prato. Seated with bow-tie is Mr. Lindquist.
Standing behind Mr. Lindquist from left ro right: Mr. Johnson, Malcolm Denise, Ray Busch, Carl Stilleto, Art Speed,
Horace L. Sheffield, John Orr.
This 1956 billboard advertisement captures perfectly the American Dream of the times. The large
and wealthy post-WWII middle class wanted suburban homes and two-car garages. “56 for ‘56” was
the slogan of the year. Fifty-six dollars a month for three years, after a 20% down payment, and you
could have a ’56 Ford. The slogan was the idea of a young Lee Iacocca, a Philadelphia district sales
manager, and the idea was applied nationally, helping to sell an extra 75,000 units. It was also the
year that Ford went public, and Ernest Breech was made chairman of the board.
In the 1957 Edsel are William Clay Ford, Benson Ford, and Henry Ford II.
The
1958
Strike
From left to right: Charles Gillette,
Angelo DeNardo, S.E. Foster,
John Galvin, Earl Parker, Pat O’Mara,
Ray Busch, Nelson Samp, Ken Bannon,
UAW-Ford department director,
Gene Prato, committee chairman,
Jerry Wilse, Owen Hammons,
Carl Stilletto, Joe Morgan,
Jesus Chantres, Charles Brown,
James Burwell.
1958 UAW-Ford
Negotiating committee.
A recession hit in 1958. Car companies
built a million cars that went unsold.
Leonard Woodcock and Senator John Kennedy
at the 1959 UAW Convention.
The UAW
shows support for
civil-rights in a
1960 demonstration.
52
Ford President Robert McNamara
and Henry Ford II in 1960, a year in
which the leadership at Ford seemed
to be in flux. Ernest Breech, after just
four years as chairman, resigned
under pressure from Henry Ford II.
For a few months, Henry Ford II was
both president and chairman until, in
November of 1960, he named Robert
McNamara as Ford president. It was
President McNamara who
recommended Lee Iacocca to run the
Ford Division.
On January 3, 1961, McNamara
left Ford to accept the position of
Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy
Administration. The sudden vacancy
in the Ford presidency was filled by
John Dykstra. Despite the years, from
1945 to 1960, that Henry Ford II had
spent constructing a sensible
corporate structure with an
atmosphere of teamwork, uncertainty
was prevailing. While he had learned
all too well the dangers of autocracy
from the example of his grandfather,
Henry Ford II felt drawn to taking the
reins of the company in hand.
53
Labor Day, Detroit, 1961.
The UAW National
Negotiating Team at Ford, 1961.
Standing from left to right: John Galvin, Alex Garcia, Mr. Bishop,
Gene Prato, Mr. Kirby, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Williams, Carl Stilletto,
Sam Fishman. Seated from left ro right; Walter Dorash,
UAW Vice President and Director of the UAW Ford Department
Ken Bannon, UAW President Walter Reuther, Ross Riley.
John Dykstra and Henry Ford II. In April of 1961, after
the abrupt departure of Robert McNamara, Henry Ford II
tapped John Dykstra, a production manager, for the
position of Ford president. Dykstra’s expertise was in the
manufacture of cars and trucks and the management of
assembly plants. This left Henry Ford II to concentrate on
financial development, including diversification.
54
1963 March on Washington.
Prior to the March on Washington, the UAW with
Walter P. Reuther helped to give leadership to the Detroit Freedom March, 1963.
Walter Reuther, a
long-time member
of the NAACP
board of directors,
mobilized the UAW
and other labor
organizations into
participating in
Martin Luther
King’s 1963 march
on Washington,
D.C. The march
was historic.
Martin Luther King
delivered his “I
Have A Dream”
speech, and the
stage was set for
the passage of the
civil-rights acts of
1964 and 1965.
The Ford Heritage website
maintains a history of the
Mustang, including vintage
ads, at www.fordheritage.com.
The first Mustang debuted at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.
Named after the legendary WWII fighter plane, the Mustang was a
hit, filling a gap in Ford’s line-up by appealing to young drivers who
wanted a sporty car. Sales in 1966 reached 549,400 units, the highest
ever. The first Mustang to appear on the big screen was a yellow
Mustang convertible in the James Bond film Goldfinger. The Mustang
was not the brainchild of Lee Iacocca, but Iacocca was responsible
for selling the Mustang to a Ford leadership that was still smarting
from the failed Edsel venture. In 1965, in recognition of the success
of the Mustang, Iacocca was promoted to vice-president.
Walter Reuther shakes hands with Ford lead negotiator Malcolm Denise
at the conclusion of the 1964 Contract negotiations.
56
The UAW National
Negotiating Team at Ford, 1964.
Seated from left to right: Carl Stiletto,
Gene Prato, Chairman, UAW Executive
Board Member At-Large and National Ford
Director Ken Bannon, UAW President
Walter Reuther, Irving Bluestone,
Alex Garcia. Standing from left to right:
Robert Biblo, Earl Parker, Doyle Williams,
Jeff Washington, James Tate, Tom Bladen,
Charlie Gillette, Ross Riley, Walter Dorash.
1967 Negotiations. From left to right: Top Ford
Negotiators Sidney McKenna, and Malcolm Denise
with UAW President Walter Reuther.
In 1967, following a two-month strike at Ford, the
Supplemental Unemployment Benefits program
became a genuine annual-wage guarantee.
The UAW National
Negotiating Team at Ford,
1967.
Seated from left to right:
Nelson Samp, Gene Prato,
UAW Vice President and Director of
National Ford Department
Ken Bannon, Alex Garcia,
Stan Rowe. Standing from left to
right: Charles Gillette, Al Hendricks,
Don Dewyea, Harry Ather,
Frank Bono, Ray Casteel,
Robert Battle III,
William Donovan, Sam Carr,
Walter Dorash.
Vice-chairman Arjay Miller, Ford President Semon E. “Bunkie”
Knudsen and Chairman Henry Ford II. During the Sixties,
Henry Ford II worked to reform and modernize the company.
Arjay Miller took over the Ford presidency from Dykstra in 1963,
and, in 1968, Henry Ford II relieved him of it and installed him,
instead, as vice-chairman. Much of the changes in leadership at
Ford can be explained by Henry Ford II’s desire to overcome
General Motors’ sales dominance. He wanted Ford to be the
number-one automobile company in the world. In 1968, Chairman
Henry Ford II accepted President Lyndon Johnson’s appointment of
him to head the National Alliance of Businessmen. So Henry Ford II
made Bunkie Knudsen, who had been passed over for the
presidency of GM, the new president of Ford. Knudsen was eager
to continue the chase after GM. But he only lasted until the fall of
1969, when Henry Ford II replaced him with the three presidents,
Lee Iacocca, Robert Stevenson, and Robert J. Hampson, each with
responsibilities over different divisions. It didn’t last. Ford made
Iacocca sole president in December of 1970.
Walter Reuther,
1907-1970.
In April of 1970, Walter Reuther led what
would be his last UAW convention. The
membership was experiencing some
divisions, and the bargaining would be
tough. Reuther was sixty-two years old
and looking forward to a retirement in
which he could educate a future
generation of union activists.
The building of the UAW Family
Education Center on scenic land near
Black Lake in northern Michigan was the
last project of Reuther’s life. The center
was to conduct a range of activities to
train union members, explore the
prevailing issues of the times, and share
ideas and concerns about the course of
the UAW. It was also to accommodate
recreational activities for visiting UAW
members and their families. Reuther did
not live to see the center completed.
On the night of May 9, 1970, Walter, his
wife May, his nephew and bodyguard
Billy Wolfman, and the center’s architect,
Oscar Stonorov, left Detroit in a plane
bound for Black Lake. In a light rain and
low clouds, the plane hit the top of a tree
during its descent and crashed into a
stand of trees near the airport in Pellston,
Michigan. All passengers and the two
pilots were killed.
On May 13, 3,400 people attended his
memorial service in Ford auditorium, and
the major automotive companies shut
down their lines for three minutes to
mourn his passing. By 1970, the UAW was
the largest racially integrated
organization in the United States. The
death of Walter Reuther in 1970
coincided with the decline of the long
postwar boom. Henry Ford II considered
Reuther “a central figure in the
development of modern industrial
history.” While the industry would
continue without the man, history would
preserve his legacy.
“You can’t opt out of life,” Walter Reuther
reflected in 1968. “You’ve got to make up
your mind whether you’re willing to
accept things as they are, or whether
you’re willing to try to change them.”
“He was the only friend I had.” Alexander Cardozo,
retired auto worker, mourns the death of Walter Reuther.
The Brothers Ford: Standing is Henry Ford II. Sitting
on the left is Benson Ford, and sitting on the right is
William Clay Ford. Henry Ford II worked doggedly to
drum up the financing for the construction of the
Renaissance Center from 1971 until 1977 when it was
finally completed. In 1978, Henry Ford II fired Lee
Iacocca. Soon after, Benson Ford passed away. In
1979, Henry announced that he was stepping down
as chairman but staying on as a director of the
company. He made Philip Caldwell Chief Operating
Officer. William Clay Ford was vice-chairman.
After the death of Reuther,
Leonard Woodcock continues tradition of
UAW support of Civil Rights. In the center
is the Rev. Ralph Abernathy from the
Southern Christian Leadership Council.
The UAW executive board elected Leonard Woodcock the UAW
president in May of 1970. Woodcock was able to orchestrate a series
of union successes during his tenure, which ended in 1977.
To the left of Woodcock,
Rev. Lowry and to the right is
Coretta Scott King.
Malcolm Denise and Leonard Woodcock
at the 1973 Negotiations.
Pictured from left to right are: Ford
President Lee Iacocca, Chairman
Henry Ford II and Vice Chairman
Phillip Caldwell. Lee Iacocca had been
company president since 1970, but by
1977 had become number three in the
new three-person office of the Chief
Executive. Mr. Caldwell would become
Chairman of the Board in 1980, and
serve until his retirement in 1985.
61
The UAW National
Negotiating Team at Ford, 1973.
Seated from left to right: Robert Battle III, UAW
Vice President and Director of the Ford
Department Ken Bannon, UAW President
Leonard Woodcock, Walter Dorash. Standing in
front from left to right: Jim Sullivan,
Louis “Connie” Tiseo. Standing in back from left
to right: Don Corn, John Szluk, Steve Boyle,
John Popovich, Vern Dollens, Ray Shubert,
Wayne Medders, Nelson Samp, E.J. Moran,
Pete Pavlich.
Auto worker, 1976.
Auto workers on strike, 1976.
Ken Bannon,
UAW Vice President
and Director of the
Ford Department,
with strikers at a
fire barrel, 1976.
62
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1976.
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1979.
In center, seated, is UAW Vice President Ken Bannon, director of the UAW
Ford Department. Seated from left: Dan Forchione, Mike Rinaldi, Bannon,
Ron Halstead, Secretary, Robert Bender. Standing, from left: Steve Boyle,
Robert Battle, John Popovich, Len Vizzaccero, Robert Schoeneman,
Stan Jones, Bill Johnson, Albert “Don” Watters, William “Bill” Brown, Jr.,
Joe Desmond, Vernon Dollens, Nicholas Vallese.
Standing, from left to right: Bill Corey, Phil Douglas, Don Davis, Jessie Gregory,
James Nagy, Jr., Ron Halstead, Albert “Don” Watters, Red Little, Don Burgess,
Bob Morris, Bob Tiseo, Norm Fultz, Byron Cooper, Ernest Lofton, Frank James.
Knealing: Tom Dowdy. Sitting from left to right: UAW Vice President and Ford
Department Director Ken Bannon, UAW President Douglas A. Fraser,
Dan Forchione, Mike Rinaldi.
UAW President Douglas A. Fraser and Ford Motor Company
Lead Negotiator Sidney McKenna, opening the 1979 Negotiations.
Until 1979, UAW membership rolls were at
an all-time high of 1.6 million, but, during
the energy crisis of the Seventies, cheaper
foreign imports with better gas mileage
gained one quarter of the American
market. The UAW lost six-hundredthousand members in the years after 1979.
The years were dark ones for the union
and tested the mettle of its leadership and
the spirit of its members. The very survival
and future of the UAW was at stake.
UAW Local 36/
Wixom Assembly, 1980
UAW Local 36/Wixom Assembly, 1980
UAW Local 900/Wayne Assembly, 1978
Northville Plant, 1981
The Fight for Survival – and Beyond
For the last twenty years, the UAW and Ford Motor Company worked
together to build quality and obtain a secure future.
UAW-Ford production worker, 1984.
The Evolution of
Modern Collective
Bargaining
Assembly
Plants,
1980s
66
In the Eighties, faced with
global competition, the
American workforce
undertook serious efforts to
encourage consumers to buy
American-made products.
THE RELATIONSHIP
between the UAW and Ford
Motor Company went
through radical changes
during the last twenty-five
years of the 20th Century,
a period when the world in
general and the United States
in particular experienced
radical changes.
RADICAL CHANGE
Technology made leaps and bounds in
manufacturing, computers, and communications.
Companies grew multinational. Cultures
diversified. The urgent issues of those decades
ranged from civil rights to labor rights, from a
crisis of energy to a crisis of the environment,
from the war on drugs to the war in the Gulf.
Those years were transformative for the
UAW and Ford, as they were for organizations
in every industry.
In the early Eighties, global competition took
the wind out of the sails of the American
automotive industry. The economy was in a
slump. Car and truck sales plummeted. Plants
were closed. Nearly half of the UAW’s Ford
membership was laid off.
67
Stephen P. Yokich: at
left in 1978 as Director
of UAW Region 1 and
below in 1974 as an
International
Representative.
As Regional Director
Stephen P. Yokich in 1979 , formed
the Region 1 Youth Council.
1974.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Yokich, Walter P. Reuther,
Steven P. Yokich upon his being elected a
UAW Local 155 representative, 1967.
It was a tough time financially for Ford, but it
was a critical time for the continued existence of
the UAW. Caught off guard by foreign
competition, Ford was marshalling its forces to
fight back and survive as a company. Suffering
deeply as a result of these efforts, the UAW had
far less forces to marshal on its own behalf.
The world had seemingly changed overnight.
Feeling the impacts of cheaper imports, new
technologies, and a national recession, the UAW,
like Ford, had to redefine its mission.
DEFYING THE ODDS
In 1979, the UAW and Ford had negotiated
a letter on Employee Involvement. That letter
was the foundation for the innovations in
labor-management relations during the next
twenty years.
The UAW negotiated gains in the areas of
68
health and safety, quality, job and income
security, education and training, outsourcing,
and family and community support. The light
that flickered in the dark days of the Eighties
burned brightly in the Nineties. The national
bargaining committees of those years defied the
odds and accomplished unprecedented gains.
The membership of the UAW came together to
spur organizing efforts, shore up support, and
plan for the future.
In 1983, UAW President Owen Bieber
appointed UAW Vice President Stephen P.
Yokich as Director of the Ford Department. It
was an extraordinary period of the UAW’s
history. As Director of the UAW’s Organizing
Department, Yokich made organizing a priority,
and he was the lead Ford negotiator for the
collective-bargaining teams. His negotiating
skills were by that time well respected, and his
ties to the UAW were lifelong.
MODERN BARGAINING
From 1983 to 1989, as director of the UAW
National Ford Department, Yokich was part of a
team that set new standards for bargaining.
The new position of the UAW was based on
an understanding that the union could develop
UAW President Douglas Fraser shakes hands with Ford
President Donald Petersen, 1982 Negotiations. To Mr.
Fraser’s right are UAW Vice President and Director of
the National Ford Department Don Ephlin and his
assistant Dan Forchione.
Douglas Fraser and Peter J. Pestillo, 1982 Negotiations.
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1982.
Top row, left to right: Sheldon Friedman, Howard Young, Frank James,
UAW President Douglas A. Fraser, Vice President and Director UAW Ford
Department Donald F. Ephlin, Dan Forchione. Second row: Tom Dowdy,
Mike Rinaldi, Ernest Lofton, Stan Jones, John Hunter, Phil Douglas.
Third Row: Bill Corey, Robert Bruce, James Nagy, Jr., Tom Bennett,
Robert Douglas. Fourth Row: Harold Boone, Norm Fultz,
Kenneth “Wayne” Bean, Dan Vergari.
Donald Petersen at Local 892/Saline Plastics, 1982.
Stephen Yokich bargaining for the first time as director of the Ford Department, 1984.
Peter J. Pestillo, 1984.
70
programs to improve the economic and social
conditions of the workforce while also
addressing
employer
concerns
about
productivity and efficiency. The UAW made
it clear that it understood the connections
between quality, consumer satisfaction, and
job security.
And, on the company side, from the early
Eighties through 1999, Peter J. Pestillo played a
key role in the negotiations, in building and
maintaining the relationship with the UAW.
Joining Ford Motor Company as a Vice
President Labor Relations in 1980 and
promoted to Vice President Employee Relations
in 1985, Pestillo earned the respect of his union
counterparts with a keen understanding of
collective bargaining, the nature and history of
unions, and the necessity for the union and
company to work together to build quality
products and satisfy customers. To survive and
excel in the global marketplace, the union and
the company had to work together, and Pestillo,
for his part, worked hard to help build a labormanagement relationship of mutual respect.
Among the innovations in the 1982
Agreement were profit-sharing, several jobsecurity
protections,
the
Education,
Development and Training Program (EDTP),
and the mutual growth forums.
The UAW National
Negotiating Team at Ford, 1984.
Standing from left to right:James Nagy, Jr., Walter Richburg,
Dan Vergari, Kenneth “Wayne” Bean, Larry Webb, Larry Lewis,
Dave Curson, William Schaffner, Bob Pokerwinski, Bill Corey,
Stan Jones, Frank Vesprini. Seated from left to right: Bob King,
UAW Vice-President and Director of the UAW Ford Department
Stephen P. Yokich, UAW President Owen Bieber, Phil Douglas.
1984 AGREEMENT
In the 1984 negotiations, the UAW won
specific contract language that ensured a UAW
role in quality issues, a role that evolved in 1993
to include the ability of workers to stop the line
for quality reasons. Joint programs supporting
worker participation were expanded to
emphasize health and safety, employee
assistance, labor-management studies, childcare
referral, and local training funds. The Employee
Assistance Program was established, and job
security was enhanced.
UAW Vice President Stephen Yokich and
Ford Motor Company’s lead negotiator
Peter J. Pestillo at the opening of
Collective Bargaining, 1984.
71
Ernest Lofton and Owen Bieber participate in demonstration
against South Africa in Washington, D.C., 1984.
UAW Vice President Yokich supports strikers
at UAW Local 882/Atlanta Assembly Plant,
August 1, 1986.
UAW Local 425/Lorain Assembly Plant, 1986.
UAW Local 919/Norfolk Assembly Plant.
72
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1987.
Standing from left to right: Joseph Peters, Jr., Kenneth “Wayne” Bean,
Jerry Melillo, Ron Gettelfinger, Walter Richburg, Wilis Lee Israel,
James Patton, Larry Miller, William Don Hammonds, Frank Miccolis,
James Vellucci, Joseph D’Amico. Sitting from left to right: Bob King,
Vice President and Director of the UAW Ford Department
Stephen P. Yokich, UAW President Owen Bieber, Alex Garcia.
Donald Petersen and Stephen P. Yokich,
1987 Negotiations.
1987 AGREEMENT
In the 1987 negotiations with Ford, Yokich
led bargaining that resulted in improved
protections for job security and increased
opportunities for worker involvement. Among
the many new advances were the new
Guaranteed Employment Numbers (GEN)
program, which established guaranteed
employment numbers for each unit and
location, and the “Best-in-Class” Quality
program.
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1990.
Standing from left to right: Joseph Reilly, Mike Baxter, Archie Kinney,
Jasper Catanzaro, Leslie Burnett, Jim Settles, Steve Wyatt, Al Suemnick,
Dennis Bryant, Thomas Boritzki, Vern Newland, Garry Mason,
Charles Castle. Seated from left to right: William Don Hammonds,
Gerald Bantom, Vice President and Ford Department Director
Ernest Lofton, UAW President Owen Bieber, Richard Shoemaker,
Robert David, Jerry Melillo, Bill Stevenson.
1990 AGREEMENT
The 1990 Agreement successfully integrated
Employee Involvement principles into a variety
of new areas, including preventive maintenance,
ergonomics, project management, and team
arrangements. All joint programs enjoyed
expanded funding. UAW Vice President Ernest
Lofton had a key leadership role during the
negotiations. In September of 1990, the U.S
Department of Labor presented an award to the
UAW-Ford National Education, Development
and Training Center for its excellence.
73
Ford Motor Company President Harold “Red” Poling visits with (from left to right) John Morris,
James Fluker, Donna Poet and Dan Brooks, 1991.
1993 AGREEEMENT
In the 1993 Agreement, the UAW and the
Company affirmed their commitment to jointly
sponsored programs. Expanded Employee
Involvement training initiatives included
enhanced professional training for Employee
Resource Coordinators (ERCs). The Technical
Skills Program was created to train workers in
the skills they need to perform in high-tech
workplaces. And an Elder Care Consultation
and Referral Program.
74
The UAW National
Negotiating Team at Ford, 1993.
Standing from left to right: Bill Stevenson, Vern Newland,
Archie Kinney, Ben Storemski, Will Burden, Tom Boritzki,
Nerlean Young, Doug Lewis, Gerry Stowell, Joseph D’Amico,
Phil Rose, Paul Quick, Johnny Vawters. Seated from left to
right: Joseph Reilly, Gerald Bantom, John Nolan,
Vice President and Director UAW Ford Department
Ernest Lofton, UAW President Owen Bieber, Jim McNeil,
Richard Shoemaker, Tom Torres, Frank Howe.
Harold “Red” Poling
and Owen Bieber,
1993.
Ford Motor Company headquaters, Dearborn, Michigan, 1993.
From left to right, William Clay Ford, Stan Seneker, Harold “Red” Poling and Donald Peterson.
Ford Motor Company Chairman of the Board
Alex Trotman at UAW Local 600/Dearborn
Assembly Plant in October 1994.
1993 Ford Ranger ad.
76
Fifteenth anniversary of the UAW-Ford
Employee Involvement Program, 1994. From left
to right: Al Hendricks, Jack Hall, Doug Fraser,
Peter J. Pestillo, Ernest Lofton, Don Ephlin,
Ernie Savoie and Irving Bluestone.
The first Apprenticeship group
at the UAW-Ford Huron Technical
Training Center, 1994.
William Clay Ford, Jr., William Clay Ford, Sr.,
Ernest Lofton, Jim McNeil and Al Wilson at
Dearborn Assembly Plant, 1994.
77
Yokich delivers his Presidential speech after being elected at
the 31st Constitutional Convention, 1995.
78
UAW President Stephen P. Yokich at the
31st UAW Constitutional Convention, 1995.
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1996.
Standing from left to right: Frank Musick, Joel Goddard, Clayton Meadors, Frank Savalle, Johnny Martin, Dave Weston,
John W. Smith, Jeff Washington, Nick Parente, Joseph Reilly, Scott Adams, Tom Boritzki, Johnny Martin, Nearlean Young,
Johnny Vawters, Jimmy Carroll. Seated from left to right: Bill Stevenson, Frank Howe, Gerald Bantom, Vice President and
Director of the UAW Ford Department Ernest Lofton, UAW President Stephen P. Yokich, Paul Massaron, James McNeil.
Gerald
Bantom and
Stephen
Yokich,
1996
Negotiations.
From left to right:
Gerald Bantom,
Ernest Lofton, and
Stephen Yokich at
the opening of the
1996 Negotiations.
80
THE 1996 AGREEMENT
In the 1996 negotiations with Ford Motor
Company, UAW President Stephen Yokich
and UAW Vice President Ernest Lofton led the
bargaining for the Union.
The 1996 Agreement mandated wage and
benefit increases, secured job and income
security programs, and expanded programs
that benefited members, retirees, and their
families. Also won was the first company-paid
tuition assistance for post-secondary education
of dependents of UAW members, as well as
tuition assistance for retirees.
Ron Gettelfinger
and his wife, Judy,
receive congratulations
for Ron’s election to
UAW Vice President
at the 1998 UAW
Constitutional
Convention.
Ron Gettelfinger accepts
nomination to the position of
UAW Vice President, 1998.
Stephen Yokich and
Ron Gettelfinger, 1998.
Alex Trotman and Ron Gettelfinger
visit with workers on the plant floor
of UAW Local 600/Dearborn Engine
& Fuel Tank Plant, 1998.
THE 1999 AGREEMENT
On June 14, 1999, UAW President Stephen
P. Yokich, who had been re-elected in 1998,
and Vice President Ron Gettelfinger led the
UAW Ford barganing team. On November 1,
1999, the new, four-year labor agreement,
which strengthened existing programs and
created new programs unique in the industry,
was signed.
“This agreement provides a solid framework
to continue our constructive relationship with
Ford in the years ahead,” Yokich said at the time.
Job-security protections under the
Guaranteed Employment Numbers program
advanced a step farther than they had ever gone
before by preserving not only individuals but the
numbers of jobs in the facilities. If a worker
leaves as a result of outsourcing or attrition, and
the pool of laid-off workers has been exhausted,
then the company must hire a new worker to fill
that position within ninety days.
“I am confident,” added Gettelfinger, “that
this contract will provide UAW active and
82
retired workers and their families with
unprecedented job and economic security.”
The UAW provides people with the
opportunities to participate in decisions that
directly affect their working lives: health and
safety, job security, product quality, benefits.
Today, the UAW is expanding its mission to
include labor-management solutions for the
support of working families and the
communities they live in.
Over the last twenty years, the UAW has reenergized the labor movement, developed new
strategies to address the challenges of the
global economy, and expanded the UAW’s
organizing activities.
“Workers realize that unions offer the best
way for us to win a seat at the bargaining
table,” Yokich has said. “And the UAW is not
just a collective-bargaining agent. The UAW is
part of a social movement in this country. The
fact is, in the 21st Century, unions have more
to do than ever.”
Ford Negotiating Team, 1999.
From left to right: Peter J. Pestillo,
Jacques Nasser, William Ford, Jr.
Ron Gettelfinger and
Stephen Yokich at the
negotiations at the 1999
Collective Bargaining with
Ford Motor Company.
Pictured with
Ron Gettelfinger are
Charles Hoskins and
Bill Stevenson, who
helped give leadership
to the team which made
significant
contributions to the
1999 Agreement.
UAW Ford Joint Programs Billboard, 2001.
83
UAW Local 400/
Romeo Engine Plant
UAW Local 228/
Sterling Heights Plant
UAW Local 897/
Buffalo Stamping Plant
2000 Ford Taurus
UAW Local 400/
Chesterfield Trim
2000 Ford F-150
UAW Local 387/
Woodhaven
Stamping Plant
UAW Local 862/
Kentucky Truck Plant
UAW Local 174/
Vulcan Forge
UAW Local 182/Livonia
UAW Local 182/
Livonia Plant
UAW Local 600/
Dearborn
Assembly Plant
UAW Local 325/St. Louis Assembly
UAW Local 245/Research & Engineering Center
UAW Local 36/
Wixom Assembly Plant
UAW Local 600/
Dearborn Assembly Plant
UAW Local 898/
Rawsonville Plant
UAW Local 898/
Rawsonville Plant
Bargaining for Families, 1999.
The UAW National Negotiating Team at Ford, 1999.
Holding the banner from left to right: Tony White, Carl Dowell.
In the back row from left to right: Dave Curson, Johnny Martin,
Rory Gamble, Tom Zmrazek, Frank Walker, Jerry Sullivan, Joe Riley,
Bill Rushlaw, Paul Massaron. Front row: Bill Stevenson, Jerry Kline,
Jeff Washington, John Talik, Bob Hasty, Bill Norfleet, Joel Goddard.
Sitting from left to right: Vice President and Director of the UAW Ford
Department Ron Gettelfinger, UAW President Stephen P. Yokich.
Behind Joe Riley is Frank Musick.
88
Working to
Improve the
Quality of Life
for our
Families and
Our
Communities
Above: The signing of the 1999 Collective
Bargaining Agreement between the UAW and Ford
Motor Company. At the table, from left to right:
UAW President Stephen P. Yokich, Ford President
and CEO Jacques Nasser, Ford Chairman
William Ford, Jr., and Visteon CEO Peter J. Pestillo.
At the bottom right is Ron Gettelfinger,
UAW Vice President and Director of the
National Ford Department.
Right: UAW Vice President and Director of the
National Ford Department Ron Gettelfinger and
Ford Chairman William Ford, Jr.
The Future
Mike Rawson, a member of UAW Local 900, was the first to receive a new computer given out under the
Model E Program. Ford Product Analyst Toary Taylor, second from right, also received a new computer. Left
to right: Ford Chairman William Ford, Jr., Mike Rawson, UAW President Stephen P. Yokich, Toary Taylor,
Ford President and CEO Jacques Nasser.
TODAY’S WORLD
is very different from the
world in which Walter Reuther
galvanized the UAW and Henry
Ford mass-produced the
Model T. Yet, one imperative
remains the same for
everyone at the UAW and
Ford Motor Company.
Everyone wants to make the
world a better place for future
generations. Everyone wants
to make a difference.
90
In the latter part of the 20th Century, the
emphasis of the UAW was to secure the
standard of living of the workforce. In the 21st
Century, the greater emphasis of the UAW and
UAW-Ford will be to secure quality of life
beyond the job by supporting families and
engaging with communities.
The UAW and Ford Motor Company are
continuing their commitments to producing
the best products and providing the best
services in the world, and they are doing so
with respect for the workforce, the
environment, and the communities in which
these processes are taking place. The union
and the company expect to make a
contribution in the 21st Century that is the
equivalent of the Industrial Revolution .
The first priority must always be health and
safety. The UAW and Ford have devoted
extensive
education,
training,
and
technological resources to preserving and
“With a goal of
zero fatalities and
serious injuries,” reads new
language in the 1999 Collective
Bargaining Agreement, “the
leadership of the UAW and Ford will
continue jointly to sponsor activities
to support a relentless daily focus
on safety that protects employees,
prevents accidents and injuries, and
provides a safe workplace.”
Customers demand excellence in quality, and the
“Best-in-Class” Quality Program was developed to
ensure that employees understand what it takes to
respond to that demand for quality and to satisfy their
customers. Working together, the union and the
company are working toward the same quality goals.
Through training and education programs, workers
are encouraged to monitor quality every day and are
empowered to take action. Workers contribute their
knowledge, their skill, and their judgment to the
production of “Best-in-Class” automobiles, and the
National Quality Committee fosters a spirit of
teamwork, cooperation, and commitment to
continuous quality improvement.
91
UAW Local 723/
Monroe
UAW and company
representatives from UAW Local
900/Wayne ISA, UAW Local
174/Vulcan Forge and
Woodhaven Forge, UAW Local
36/Wixom Assembly and UAW
2280/Van Dyke plants.
Participants in a
Diversity
brainstorming
session.
“With regard to diversity, the UAW and Ford Motor Company recognized and
responded to the significance of equitable treatment of employees far before we
ever put contractual language on a piece of paper.”
Dennis Cirbes, Executive Director, Labor Affairs
protecting the health and safety of the
workforce. The imperative now is to promote
and ensure compliance. “With a goal of zero
fatalities and serious injuries,” reads new
language in the 1999 Collective Bargaining
Agreement, “the leadership of the UAW and
Ford will continue jointly to sponsor activities
to support a relentless daily focus on safety
that protects employees, prevents accidents
and injuries, and provides a safe workplace.”
“Our most valuable asset is our people,” says
Ford President and CEO Jacques Nasser.
“Nothing is more important than their
safety and well-being. Our coworkers and
families rely on this commitment. There can
be no compromise.”
UAW-Ford has launched a national
initiative, negotiated under the 1999 Collective
Bargaining agreement, entitled: Family Service
and Learning Centers (FSLC). Intended for
UAW-represented Ford employees, salaried
employees, families, and retirees, FSLC
In the 1999 Agreement, the UAW and Ford agreed to establish a National Joint
Diversity Committee (NJDC) and charged the committee with developing a training
initiative to increase awareness and promote constructive dialogue regarding
diversity. In a Letter of Understanding, the Union and the Company recognized the
value of diversity. “Although the concept of diversity highlights our differences as
individuals, the true value of workplace diversity is that such differences can create
a whole that is more than the sum of its components—a group of individuals whose
collective strengths are derived from understanding, appreciating and capitalizing
on their particular personal attributes.”
To train employees in the latest workplace
technologies, the Technical Skills Program,
negotiated in the 1993 Agreement, includes
funding for skilled-trades technical training,
production-employee training,
business-systems
technical training, new
processes training,
and enhanced
apprentice training.
Workers can learn
about everything
from computers to
lasers, from robotics to hydraulics.
TSP initiatives enable workers to keep pace
with the rapidly evolving world of technology.
“The next several years will present some formidable challenges.
We need engaged employees, equipped with the knowledge,
skills, and tools to effectively navigate our new realities.”
David Murphy,
Vice President, Human Resources, Ford Motor Company
recognizes the importance of social as well as
economic issues for working families and their
communities. Delivering training, childcare,
community outreach, and more, the FSLC
program represents a dedication to creating
innovative support networks that address a
wide variety of work and family issues.
“This unique effort steps beyond traditional
benefits and paycheck issues to provide
cutting-edge opportunities for personal
growth and development,” says UAW President
Stephen P. Yokich. “The Family Service and
Learning Centers are a direct response to what
our members and retirees tell us they need,
and the Centers are our best effort to support
them every step of the way.”
“Enlightened corporations are beginning to
understand that social issues are business
issues,” says Ford Chairman William Ford, Jr.
“They realize they can no longer separate
themselves from what is going on around
them. Ultimately, businesses can only be as
successful as the communities, and the world,
in which they exist.”
In the new century, the opportunities for
progress abound: from diversity to the Internet,
from childcare to quality, from alternative fuels
to teamwork. Everyone is being encouraged to
participate. No one is to be left behind.
The UAW and Ford Motor Company are
working together to improve the quality of
products and to satisfy the preferences of
customers. The mission is to work hard for families
and for communities. Now more than ever.
Today’s world is very different from the world
in which Walter Reuther galvanized the UAW
and Henry Ford mass-produced the Model T.
And our children’s world will be very different
from today’s world. Some day, our children will
look back, and they will see a world in which the
UAW and Ford Motor Company came together
to do their very best for their workforce, their
environment, and their communities. They will
say that the UAW and Ford made the world a
better place. They will say that the UAW and
Ford made a difference.
93
The first meeting of the Local Family Council of
Dearborn, Michigan, was held at UAW Local 245/
Research and Engineering. The Local Family Councils
serve as a very important link between the national
Family Service and Learning Center (FSLC) program
and the local communities in which the FLSC program
will be put to work. All locations have different needs.
So the Councils maintain close contact with their
communities and ensure that FSLC services are
relevant and responsive to area needs.
UAW Vice President and Director of the National Ford Department Ron Gettelfinger and Ford President and
CEO Jacques Nasser proudly endorse the effort to support families and communities.
UAW Local 1111/Indianapolis
UAW Local 862/Kentucky Plant
“The Family Service and
Learning Centers are a
direct response to what our
members and retirees tell
us they need.”
UAW President
Stephen P. Yokich
“Social issues are business
issues. Businesses can
only be as successful as
the communities in which
they exist.”
Ford Motor Company
Chairman William Ford, Jr.
On April 27, 2001, UAW Local 249/Kansas City Assembly
held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of
their Family Service and Learning Center.
The FSLC initiative encompasses a variety of
services under three general categories:
Family Education and Services, Community
Service Education and Outreach, and
Childhood Education Services.
In Family Education and Services, examples
of programs and services that may be
offered are: intergenerational programs,
personal growth and development, family
technology literacy, job and career
assistance, support groups, before- and
after-school programs, summer and holiday
camps for children, retiree programs, family
wellness, and health screenings.
Under Community Service Education and
Outreach, the FSLCs will match workers,
retirees, and their families with communityservice opportunities through a Volunteer
Support Network that will promote and
publicize volunteer opportunities. The FSLCs
will link with community organizations to
support both local and national charitable
and volunteer programs.
The FSLC childcare effort includes
Community Childcare Networks of highquality childcare providers. The Networks
will work to enhance the quality and
accessibility of childcare in Ford, Visteon,
and ZF Batavia communities. Thirteen
dedicated childcare centers serving areas
with hourly and salaried populations of 5,000
or more will be opened by 2003. The FSLC
dedicated childcare centers will serve up to
250 children and will operate up to 24 hours
a day, as needed.
“These Centers and these
programs will deepen our
commitment to make our
communities better places
to live.”
UAW Vice President
Ron Gettelfinger
“Through significant involvement
with our people, this program
offers a powerful growth
strategy for our company and
our communities alike.”
Ford Motor Company
President & CEO
Jacques Nasser
97
The UAW and Ford Motor Company
Support Our Children, Our Families, and
Our Communities. The Future Starts Today.
98
Rouge Complex, 1952.
Revitalization
of the Rouge
The UAW and Ford are working together
to lead the way in environmental
responsibility and good corporate
citizenship. Ford’s North American
plants recycle more than 234 million
pounds of solid waste annually. In 2000,
Ford announced a $2 billion
revitalization plan for the Rouge
manufacturing complex. The Company
assembled environmental,
development, and manufacturing
specialists, including world-renowned
sustainability architect William
McDonough. Ford also announced
plans to improve SUV fuel efficiency
by 25% by 2005. “Whether it’s the
environmental renovation of the
Rouge or our fuel-economy
commitment, we are committed to
being a leader in the global climatechange issue,” said Ford Chairman
William Ford, Jr.
Artist’s rendition of the future Rouge Complex.
99
Ron Gettelfinger, Peter J. Pestillo, Jacques Nasser and Stephen P. Yokich
at the UAW-Ford Joint Programs Conferences, 2001.
2002 Ford Thunderbird
Billboard for the
2002 Ford Explorer.
100
UAW Ford National Programs
The UAW-Ford National Programs
Center in Detroit, Michigan, is
committed to supporting the needs of
workers, retirees, their families, and
their communities for generations to
come. From the administration of
scholarships to the development of
national support for local initiatives,
the National Programs Center pursues
its mandate tirelessly: to improve our
lives in our workplaces, in our homes,
and in our neighborhoods.
The UAW-Ford National
Programs Center maintains a
website at www.uawford.com.
The website provides Center history,
information on the national programs,
scholarship information, answers to
Frequently Asked Questions, and
recent issues of Sharing Our Pride,
the Center’s magazine. The site also
provides information on current
events and activities related to the
National Programs.
This entire book plus additional historic
images about the UAW and Ford will be
online at www.uawford.com
101
UAW Local 400/
Chesterfield Trim
UAW Local 900/
Wayne Assembly
UAW Local 36/
Wixom Assembly
UAW Local 400/
Romeo Engine
UAW Local 588/
Chicago Stamping
UAW Local 898/
Rawsonville Plant
UAW Local 879/
Twin Cities Assembly
UAW Local 879/
Twin Cities Assembly
UAW Local 1219/
Lima Engine
UAW Local 882/
Atlanta Assembly
UAW Local 36/
Wixom Assembly
Photo Credits
Front Cover – Roger Robinson (Top);
William Jordan (Bottom);
Ford PhotoMedia (Top Background);
William Jordan (Bottom Background)
Title Page – UAW Photo Library
(Background Photo)
Page 2 – Russ Marshall (Top Left &
Bottom); David Barringer (Top Right);
Roger Robinson (Center)
Page 3 – See cover credits
Page 4 – UAW Public Relations &
Publication Department
Page 5 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 6 – UAW Public Relations &
Publication Department
Page 7 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 8 – Visteon Corporation
Page 9 – Roger Robinson
Page 10-13 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 14 – Ford PhotoMedia
(Top & Center); UAW Photo Library
(Bottom Left & Bottom Center);
Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs,
Wayne State U. (Bottom Right)
Page 15-16 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 17 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
(Top, Middle Right & Bottom);
UAW Photo Library (Middle Left)
Page 18 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 19-20 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
Page 21 – UAW Photo Library
Page 22 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
Page 23 – Museum of Modern Art,
New York (Top);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom)
Page 24 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
Page 25 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U. (Top);
UAW Photo Library (Middle & Bottom)
Page 26-27 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 28 – UAW Photo Library
Page 29 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 30 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
Page 31 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 32-35 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
Page 36-38 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 39 – Ford PhotoMedia (Top);
J. Walter Thompson for Ford Motor
Company (Center Left & Center Right);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom Left)
Page 40-42 – UAW Photo Library
104
Page 43 – Ford PhotoMedia;
J. Walter Thompson for
Ford Motor Company (Center Left)
Page 44-45 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 46 – Ford PhotoMedia (Top);
UAW Ford NPC (Center);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom)
Page 47 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 48 – J. Walter Thompson for
Ford Motor Company (Top);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom)
Page 49 – UAW Photo Library (Top);
Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs,
Wayne State U. (Bottom)
Page 50 – J. Walter Thompson for
Ford Motor Company (Top);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom)
Page 51 – UAW Photo Library
Page 52 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
(Top & Center); UAW Public Relations
& Publication Department (Bottom)
Page 53 – Ford PhotoMedia (Top);
J. Walter Thompson for
Ford Motor Company (Bottom)
Page 54 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.
(Top & Center);
Ford Motor Company (Bottom)
Page 55 – UAW Photo Library
Page 56 – Ford PhotoMedia (Top);
UAW Photo Library (Bottom)
Page 57 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U.;
UAW Photo Library (Center Left &
Center Right)
Page 58 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 59 – UAW Photo Library
Page 60 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 61 – Junebug Clark
(Top Left & Center Left);
UAW Photo Library
(Top Right & Center Right);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom)
Page 62 – Archives of Labor and
Urban Affairs, Wayne State U. (Top);
Junebug Clark (Center Left & Bottom);
Earl Dotter www.earldotter.com
(Center Right)
Page 63 – Junebug Clark
Page 64 – Earl Dotter
www.earldotter.com; Russ Marshall
(Bottom Left)
Page 65 – Russ Marshall
Page 66 – Russ Marshall
Page 67 – Junebug Clark
Page 68 – Stephen P. Yokich
Collection
Page 69 – Junebug Clark (Top);
Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs,
Wayne State U. (Bottom Left); Ford
PhotoMedia (Center Right & Bottom)
Page 70-71 – Junebug Clark
Page 72 – UAW Solidarity (Top);
Stephen P. Yokich Collection
(Center & Bottom)
Page 73 – Junebug Clark (Top);
UAW Photo Library (Bottom)
Page 74 – UAW Ford NPC (Top);
UAW Photo Library (Bottom)
Page 75 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 76 – Roger Robinson;
J. Walter Thompson for
Ford Motor Company (Bottom)
Page 77-79 – Roger Robinson
Page 80 – UAW Solidarity
Page 81 – Roger Robinson
Page 82 – Roger Robinson
Page 83 – William Jordan (Top);
UAW Ford NPC (Center & Bottom)
Page 84 – David Barringer;
Roger Robinson (Center Left);
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom Left)
Page 85 – Roger Robinson;
Ford PhotoMedia (Top Right)
Page 86 – Roger Robinson;
David Barringer (Center Right)
Page 87 – Roger Robinson
Page 88 – William Jordan
Page 89-90 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 91 – David Barringer
Page 92 – David Barringer;
Ford PhotoMedia (Center)
Page 93 – David Barringer (Top);
Ford PhotoMedia (Center)
Page 94 – Roger Robinson
Page 95 – Ford PhotoMedia (Top);
David Barringer (Bottom)
Page 96 – David Barringer
Page 97 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 98 – David Barringer
Page 99 – Ford PhotoMedia
Page 100 – UAW Ford NPC (Top);
Ford PhotoMedia (Center);
Roger Robinson (Bottom)
Page 101 – Roger Robinson (Top);
UAW Ford NPC (Bottom)
Page 102 – Roger Robinson;
Ford PhotoMedia (Bottom Left);
Stephen P. Yokich Collection
(Bottom Center)
Page 103 – Roger Robinson;
UAW Photo Library (Bottom Right)
Back Cover – UAW Photo Library
(Top); Ford PhotoMedia (Center);
Roger Robinson (Bottom)
UAW-FORD SIXTY YEARS OF PROGRESS — 1941 TO 2001
International Union, UAW
Solidarity House
Detroit, Michigan
Ford Motor Company
World Headquarters
Dearborn, Michigan
UAW-Ford
National Programs Center
Detroit, Michigan