General Motors hourly employees will receive profit-sharing checks up to $8,000.
UAW hourly workers at two of the three Detroit-area automakers now know what kind of profit-sharing checks they’ll be getting since General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. announced their annual earnings results.
GM will pay its nearly 44,000 eligible hourly United Auto Workers employees profit-sharing amounts of up to $8,000 this year while Ford’s 53,000 eligible workers will take home $6,600 each. Fiat Chrysler doesn’t announce earnings until Thursday and FCA’s workers will know then.
Detroit-based GM reported earnings of $6.7 billion for 2019, which was a 17.4% drop compared with last year’s $8.2 billion. The company’s hourly workers saw that decline hit their profit-sharing checks as a result.
(Disastrous fourth quarter hurts Ford’s full-year earnings)
Last year, they got checks for as much as $10,750 per person. Part of the reason for the decline was the hit the automaker took as a result of the UAW’s 40-day strike. GM’s checks will arrive later this month, officials noted.
Ford hourly workers will receive profit-sharing checks as much as $6,600 each.
“UAW General Motors workers throughout the strike last fall said to the American public that they build quality vehicles that make excellent profits,” UAW Vice President Terry Dittes said in a statement. “Much was made about the cost of the strike but consider the fact that even with a 40-day strike, General Motors North American made a significant profit.”
“Through profit sharing on average UAW GM members will make $8,000 in profit sharing all through the collective bargaining process.”
(Strike cost GM $2.6 billion, earnings down to $6.7 billion for 2019)
Ford, which is based in Dearborn, Michigan, workers also saw a decline, although it was not as substantial. The automaker will pay out up to $6,600 per workers compared with last year’s $7,600.
The automaker suffered through a difficult fourth quarter, which drove profits down to $465 million last year. However, its pre-tax profits in North America — the figure profit-sharing is based on — totaled $6.612 billion.
FCA workers will find out Thursday what kind of profit-sharing checks they’ll be getting.
“UAW Ford members negotiate profit-sharing in their contracts so that they can share in the success of the company and its profits,” Gerald Kariem, UAW vice president and Ford Department director, said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is a testament to UAW Ford members’ hard work and the great products that they make.”
(Ford sals dropped in 2019 despite strong truck results)
Workers should see the payments in March, company officials noted.