(Reuters) -Workers at Ford Motor’s Chicago assembly plant have voted to ratify a proposed contract with the automaker, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s local chapter said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
UAW Local 551 said 57% of votes cast were in favor of the deal. Ford employs about 4,500 hourly workers at the assembly plant, which also manufacturers the Ford Explorer.
Union workers are voting on contracts from each of Chrysler-owner Stellantis, General Motors and Ford after the first coordinated strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers.
The ratification comes after the automakers and the UAW reached tentative deals over the last few weeks to end a costly strike following marathon negotiations.
The UAW’s new agreement, which covers 57,000 workers overall at Ford, includes raises of 33% or more over the life of the contract, including cost-of-living adjustments that push up wages in line with inflation.
A majority of workers at Ford’s Michigan assembly plant have already voted to approve the tentative deal.
Automakers had previously been slashing costs and navigating a bumpy road to manufacture EVs and catch up with market leader Tesla. However, lower margins on those vehicles have deterred them from accelerating the move.
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford in October withdrew its full-year results forecast due to “uncertainty” over the pending ratification of its deal with the UAW union, and warned of continued pressure on electric vehicles results.
The company has previously estimated that the new contract would add $850 to $900 in labor costs per vehicle.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
