When called aside at the Dearborn Truck Plant, the Ford F-150 assembly worker feared she was being written up for something — but instead it was a huge promotion.
“When they handed me the papers and said, ‘You’re included in this,’ I said, ‘For real?’ At first I thought it was a bad news letter,'” OA’Lisa Mason, 32, of Detroit, told the Free Press just hours after getting the news on Thursday.
She called her father, a retired factory worker, immediately to share news that she was among about 3,000 Ford factory workers in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri being moved from temporary to full-time permanent status.
“I said, ‘They flipped me today!’ And he’s like, ‘Stop playin,’ ” Mason said. “I said, ‘No, Dad. They flipped me!’ He said, ‘Congratulations. Welcome to the Ford family.’ “
Mason then notified her brother, who builds the Ford Bronco at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne. He was stunned at the company’s speed in moving workers to permanent, she said, because workers have waited years in the past. She started working the temporary job for Ford in October.
These promotions carry with them premium heath care benefits, higher pay, job security and access to profit sharing checks now.
“I done called everybody. I was ecstatic,” Mason said, laughing. “I can live better now. I don’t have to worry about anything at the moment. Benefits will help me and my child. I have a 10-year-old daughter, Jayda.”
Mason continued, “I am a Ford child. I was raised with the benefits. Insurance was a great thing. I wear glasses. I’ve never had to worry about anything with my father working at Ford. And now my child, she don’t have to worry no more. I have a secure job.”
Ford unveiled its plans as part of a big announcement Thursday that the company will invest $3.7 billion in three states to create about 6,200 union jobs.
The Detroit Three automakers have announced efforts to make temp workers permanent over the past two years but so many at once is atypical. This action, along with the other investments, signals to UAW workers prior to upcoming labor negotiations that Ford is hearing the plea for more job security.
$16.70 an hour
Mason works a 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift installing parking sensors on pickups. Monday through Thursday, her father, Ossie Mason Sr., takes his granddaughter to school and picks her up so that her mom can earn a living.
“I was at $16.70 an hour and now I’ll get a pay raise every year,” OA’Lisa Mason said. “I can reach top pay of $32 an hour in two more years. You can’t get that at a lot of jobs. I’m just so happy now.”
The company confirmed Friday its factory workers may earn as much as $32 an hour based on the 2019 contract bargained by the UAW.
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In recent months, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, which oversees operations for gas-powered vehicles, visited plants around the country to see firsthand how things are running and hear from workers on how to improve operations.
Galhotra told the Free Press this week that Ford executives had been working closely with the UAW leadership to make things happen. Promotion of the workers comes ahead of the schedule set by the union’s collective bargaining contract that expires next year.
“Contractually, we don’t have to do this, but we think it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We believe and the UAW leadership believes that this is the right thing to do for those employees.”
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In fact, the biggest cheers at the Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake during the news event Thursday came when Galhotra announced news of the permanent hires.
‘The big bucks’
Jessica Wellman, 27, of Amherst, Ohio, is moving from temporary to permanent at the Ohio Assembly Plant, where she began working on the assembly line in January. She often installs the battery box or assembles air tanks on heavy duty trucks, which store compressed air that’s used to operate brakes and other components.
These huge trucks are built for customers such as U-Haul to customize, said Wellman, who usually works the second shift from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“This is like a record of getting hired in,” she told the Free Press. “I’m so excited. I’m a third generation Ford worker. My dad is about to retire and my grandfather already retired.”
Becoming permanent has always been the goal. Temporary workers do the same job and pay union dues but qualify for fewer benefits.
“I’m excited to be making the big bucks,” Wellman said. “It’s between $17 and, well, all the way up to $31 an hour. And if something happens, and you only work a day or two that week and you have to get laid off, full-time workers are promised 40 hours (of pay). That’s amazing. Nobody does that anymore. This is pretty special.”
On the F-150 line
Carmen Kincheloe, 20, of Independence, Missouri, has been building the front end of F-150 pickup trucks at the Kansas City Assembly Plant since mid-July. Her dad works there, too. And his father did before him.
The biggest victory for Kincheloe is qualifying for supplemental unemployment benefits, also known as SUB pay, which allows permanent workers with one year of service to get a steady income and pay bills even during layoffs when factory downtime is required for necessary disruptions such as semiconductor chip shortages.
“I think that it’s great to get more people on permanent jobs. I think it’ll be good for our production and the company as a whole. It makes people feel better,” said Kincheloe, whose shift usually runs 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. “I’m honestly just really excited. I really enjoy the job I do.”
‘Life changing’
Chuck Browning, UAW vice president, said delivering news that rewards hourly auto factory workers during these challenging times in the industry spotlights how organized labor can work with companies to provide stability and security that benefits everyone.
“The opportunity to reap the benefits of the collective bargaining agreement as a full-time UAW-represented Ford employee is life-changing,” he said. “This early conversion of 3,000 UAW members along with immediate access to premium health care will make a real difference for them and their families.”
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard:313-618-1034orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.