DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co. employees next month will receive their first cost of living allowance increase since the United Auto Workers agreed to $1 billion in contract concessions.
Company spokesman Edd Snyder said Tuesday 105,000 hourly employees will receive a 15 cent per hour increase in COLA beginning the week of Dec. 6.
This will increase COLA payments to $2.18 an hour.
The COLA payment is made on top of hourly wages, which average $9.64 an hour. This means workers will receive an average base pay, including COLA, of $11.82 per hour.
The UAW, in the concessions contract that took effect March 1, agreed to a nine-month freeze on COLA which along with a wage freeze will save the automaker an estimated $1 billion over the next three years.
COLA increases for the second, third and fourth quarters of 1982 will be restored to paychecks in the third and fourth quarters of 1983 and the first quarter of 1984.
Salaried employees at Ford also will receive an increase in COLA, but will get it in a lump sum payment March 13, Snyder said. The white collar workers will receive a maximum payment of $1,133.60 calculated by multiplying $2.18 by 520 hours worked from December and February.
Salaried employees receive COLA only for time worked, meaning they will not receive payments for hours used as sick time or vacation leave. Ford has about 50,000 white collar workers.
