• Nearly 8,000 UAW-represented Ford employees have been fast-tracked to higher earnings as of Labor Day 

• Employees receive an increase of $4.33 per hour on average, or about $9,000 per year – with overtime, the average annual pay increase could top $10,000

• 80% of Ford’s 57,000 UAW-represented hourly employees are now at the top wage rate – $32 per hour on average, not including overtime

DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 7, 2023 – Nearly 8,000 UAW-represented Ford employees received a substantial raise this Labor Day. 

On average, these employees now earn $4.33 more per hour, or $9,000 a year. The increase could top $10,000 a year with overtime. The pay hikes were negotiated by Ford and the UAW in 2019 to shorten the time it takes workers to reach the average top wage rate of $32 an hour.  

“These pay raises are an example of Ford’s commitment to improving the lives of our hourly workforce,” said Bryce Currie, Ford vice president, Manufacturing. “The negotiating teams nicknamed this deal ‘23 Jump Street’ because in 2023 a significant number of UAW-Ford team members would see a jump in pay. And we are offering further improvements in the next contract.”

Normally, growing into the top wage rate takes eight years, but with this agreement, 8,000 employees reached the top wage rates with as little as four years on the job.  

The top wage rate differs by the specific type of job an employee does. On average, it is $32 per hour. With this move, 80% of all Ford’s UAW-represented hourly employees are now at the top wage rate. Those at the top wage rate are earning higher wages than 90% of all hourly employees in the U.S. auto industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Permanent hourly manufacturing employees were eligible for the pay increase if they were hired prior to the 2019 contract effective date and were earning at least $24.40 per hour as of Sept. 1, 2023. 

Employees will see the pay increase in their next paystubs.

Ford has exceeded its job and investment commitments for the last three contracts, recently creating or retaining 5,600 jobs beyond 8,500 committed and investing $1.4 billion beyond $6 billion committed in the 2019 contract. 

The company converted more than 14,100 employees from temporary employment to full-time permanent roles during the past four years – most of them ahead of schedule – and made all new hourly employees eligible for health care benefits from their first day on the job effective June 13, 2022.

Ford launched a $1 billion five-year plan to upgrade the workplace experience in its plants, starting in 2022, providing better food service, mother’s stations, upgraded restrooms and more. 

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