Ford to pay UAW hourly workers $9,176 in profit-sharing

Ford announced Thursday in its earnings report that its UAW employees will receive profit-sharing checks averaging $9,176 this year. Checks will be distributed March 9.

That’s up from $7,377 for hourly workers in 2021, when supply chain disruption and pandemic-related issues continued to shut down plants. Yet the logistics drama has also led to higher prices and bigger profits, which leads to higher profit-sharing checks for hourly workers and big bonuses for salaried workers. Ford UAW employees received average payouts of just $3,625 in 2020.

Meanwhile, General Motors announced Tuesday that its 42,300 UAW-represented workers will receive record profit-sharing checks averaging $12,750. It’s the most GM has ever awarded, based on a 2019 UAW contract that lifted a $12,000 cap. The company said it is sending the checks Feb. 24.

Chrysler-parent Stellantis is scheduled to release its profit-sharing data Feb. 22. It awarded checks averaging $14,670 in 2022 and $8,010 in 2021.

The Ford profit-sharing formula is $1,000 for workers for each $1 billion in North American pretax profit. These are not bonus payments.

The profit-sharing check amounts are tied to a company’s annual financial results for the prior year. Ford announced Thursday it made $9.176 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in North America in 2022.

The profit-sharing checks vary based on hours worked by a permanent full-time employee during the year. While Ford employs an estimated 56,000 hourly workers, not all hourly workers qualify for profit sharing, Ford noted.

For 2022, GM’s North America pretax profits were $12.9 billion, up from $10.3 billion a year ago. The checks are paid out in increments of $250, which is why it is $12,750 and not $12,900, the company said. Previously, GM workers received $10,250 in 2021 and about $9,000 in 2020. The highest payout, prior to this one, was in 2016 at $12,000 per employee.