Ford's Dagenham operations were among seven facilities hit by the strike.
Ford Motor Co. workers in Britain are back on the job this morning after a 24-hour warning strike but barring a settlement in a contract dispute the maker could be looking at another walkout in the coming days.
While the U.K. has a history of labor-management confrontations, this week’s strike is unusual in that blue-collar line workers were not impacted. It’s Ford’s white-collar staff that staged the 24-hour walkout over plans to cut their pay and restructure a defined-benefits pension program.
“To date Ford has failed to make any genuine attempts to resolve this dispute,” said Roger Maddison, an official with the British union Unite. “We fiercely oppose the closure of Ford’s final salary scheme to new entrants because we believe ultimately Ford will try to close the entire scheme.”
About 1,200 employees were involved in the strike, which continued through Tuesday morning. However, the impact appeared to be minimal – at least in terms of production. Ford said the walkout did not disrupt assembly operations, however.
The proposed changes to the pension program would bar new employees from joining the defined-benefits plan, though the program would continue for existing white-collar employees. (Blue-collar union workers have already approved similar changes in the U.K.)
Ford is aggressively seeking to both limit future pension costs and reduce a current $15.4 billion gap in its contribution to its global pension funds. The maker recently announced it will offer to buy out tens of thousands of U.S. white-collar retirees as part of that effort.
Ford, however, is not alone. General Motors has also announced a pension buyout for salaried U.S. retirees and hints it may take similar steps with union pensioners, as well. In Britain, meanwhile, an estimated 80% of private firms have abandoned defined-benefit pension programs, as well, according to a Ford official.
The maker insists it is “willing and able” to continue talks with the Unite union.
Unite has not said what its next move will be but further disruptions could follow at the seven facilities hit this week – including Ford’s primary U.K. facilities in Dagenham, Dunton and Halewood.