A UAW Local representing about 1,800 workers at a Ford Motor Co. factory in Ohio has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging that Ford is violating a part of the union's contract — making it the second local union to file such charges against Ford in the past four weeks.
On Aug. 11, UAW Local 1250 Chairman Paul Donovan filed a charge with the labor board alleging Ford has repeatedly violated a part of Article VII in the union's national contract that outlines how grievances are handled. The union represents the hourly workforce at Ford Cleveland Engine Plant in Brook Park, Ohio, where Ford builds its EcoBoost engines.
As the Detroit Free Press reported on Aug. 5, a similar allegation was made by UAW Local 249 with
the NLRB against Ford. UAW Local 249 represents some 9,000 workers at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri, where the automaker builds the F-150 pickup and Ford Transit commercial van. That charge was filed with the NLRB on July 28.
Ford spokesman Dave Tovar insists both charges are without merit and that the company strictly follows the grievance procedure in the contract. Tovar said the unions are unhappy with Ford's moves over the past few years to increasingly crack down on discipline so as to improve plant security, safety and enforce workers' rights. In doing so, Ford has taken a zero-tolerance stance for many who break the rules.
"We take very seriously the process that is in the contract for how to work through issues," Tovar told the Detroit Free Press. "They (local unions) don’t like the fact that we’re reviewing these (grievances) and not just approving these at the local level. We’re being more thoughtful and enforcing our policies and improving the safety and security at our plants and they don’t like that."
The local UAW leaders said they do support security measures and admit there are some workers who deserve the discipline they get when breaking the rules. But, they say, Ford is summarily denying nearly all grievances without giving fair weight to cases with merit, which they say is a violation of the contract.
Ford's steps to safer plants
Ford said it has been quietly upgrading safety and security measures inside its U.S. factories over the past three years, adding security officers, upgraded surveillance systems and cameras, testing the use of detection dogs trained to search for firearms and explosives and enforcing a zero tolerance policy for those who break the rules.
The Dearborn-based company started the security enhancements as a proactive measure after hearing concerns from the workforce on various issues they wanted addressed, Tovar said in a previous Detroit Free Press report.
"Our priority is providing a workplace free from violence, harassment, substance abuse and other threats to employee safety," Tovar said in the previous article.
As the Detroit Free Press first reported last month, Ford was bringing a K-9 unit into Michigan Assembly Plant starting on July 27 to run a 90-day pilot program there. Ford builds the Bronco SUV and Ford Ranger pickup at that factory where it employs about 6,300 hourly and salaried workers. The dog is trained to sniff for guns and explosives.
The grievance procedure
In some cases, there have been employees who have been terminated for breaking Ford's policies. In such an instance, the Local UAW can file a grievance if it believes there were mitigating circumstances that should allow for a terminated person to get their job back. If the union dislikes how the company rules on that grievance, the union can send it to the UAW International House for consideration to go to arbitration.
But first, UAW Local 1250's Donovan said, grievances should be resolved at the local level. Yet, according to the charge filed on Aug. 11 by Donovan on behalf of the Local, Ford has been forcing the union to take everything to the UAW International and arbitration.
The Detroit Free Press reviewed the charge UAW Local 1250 filed with the NLRB and it reads: "Within the last 2 years the Employer has repeatedly violated Article VII of the Collective bargaining Agreement in regards to the Grievance Procedure by not making a sincere and determined effort to settle meritorious grievances by Denying ALL grievances involving discharge and discipline of employees contrary to all past practices and contractual language in violation of Section8(a)(4)(5) of the act."
The wording in the charge filed by UAW Local 249 is the exact same, except it states "within the last 2 months" rather than "2 years."
In the UAW's contract with Ford, in Volume 1, Article VII, it states that the "parties shall make a sincere and determined effort to settle meritorious grievances in the voluntary steps of the Grievance Procedure and to keep the procedure free of unmeritorious grievances."
Cases with merit?
Donovan said an example of a meritorious grievance that should have been resolved at the local level involved a member who filed doctor-approved medical leave paperwork. The member submitted the paperwork to the company Ford uses to process such requests. That company sent it on to Ford, but it arrived past the 10-day limit the member had to notify the company of an excused absence. Therefore, this member's job was terminated.
"I’ve been working two months to get this guy back to work," Donovan told the Detroit Free Press. "In the past, they would bring him back to work. Now Ford plant leaders are saying they have to go through World Headquarters for approval to get him back."
Tovar told the Detroit Free Press on Aug. 12 that that employee would get his job back and that is an example of the process working. But Donovan said the company had not yet communicated to him that the member would be reinstated.
Another example Donovan gave of a grievance he said he feels should be settled involves a member who has worked at the plant for nearly a year with a spotless work record. When this man was hired, Ford asked if he had a felony in the last seven years and he answered truthfully, no. But Donovan said Ford found out recently that he had a felony on his record back in 1992 and fired him.
"That person broke no Ford rules or policies nor has had any felony since 1992," Donovan said. "Ford told me they are not allowed to settle it, the directive was coming from World Headquarters, which violates the contract because it’s supposed to be settled at the lower levels. So that had to go to arbitration."
Tovar was not familiar with that case and could not comment on it.
41 grievances
Donovan said Ford has been increasingly applying heavy-handed discipline — such as instant termination — to employees who, in the past would have been given lighter punishments for violating a policy that was not a safety or security risk. He said the contract states that "discipline should be corrective in nature, not punitive." Meanwhile, he said Ford managers will hear his grievances, but not settle any of them, as they would have in the past.
"In the last six months, I moved 41 grievances to the International level because Ford said, 'No, they are staying fired,' " Donovan said. "My grievances have merit. I do not move garbage. These grievances have merit and the company just said we can’t. Five years ago, I might move four of them."
Ford's Tovar challenges the accuracy of the UAW Locals' allegations, reiterating that Ford follows labor law and follows the contract with the UAW. He also said it enforces Ford policies and investigates every report of misconduct fully and fairly. But the company must crack down harder on those employees who do not deserve to be reinstated in a job, he said, if it is to upgrade its plant working conditions and security.
"We understand some would prefer the old horse trading and patronage approach to employee discipline," Tovar told the Detroit Free Press earlier this month. "But the days when employees who seriously endangered or harassed their coworkers were reinstated, sometimes repeatedly, are over."
Donovan said the process of not settling grievances at the local level has left many members frustrated and disappointed in Ford. He noted Executive Chair Bill Ford’s name is on the outside of the buildings and "the people making these calls are ruining his name. We all have great respect for Bill Ford, but the new group they have running things now …t hey are very heavy handed and discriminatory."
Tovar said Ford has changed and it won't apologize for taking a heavy hand to enforce its rules.
"Bill Ford takes a lot of pride in his interaction with the UAW and has done so for decades. This is not about Bill or his reputation," Tovar told the Detroit Free Press. "This is about Ford trying to improve safety in the plants, treat people fairly ... and there are people who don’t like this change.”
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA TODAY Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: A second UAW Local files charge against Ford over grievance procedure
