Bill Ford Credits UAW With Helping Save Ford From Bankruptcy

Though they are sometimes blamed for the financial woes at other car companies, labor unions actually helped "save" Ford Motor as competitors such as General Motors went bankrupt, Bill Ford told CNBC on Thursday.

Ford, the executive chairman of the Detroit automaker, said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that former UAW President Ron Gettelfinger doesn't get enough credit for helping to shore up the books during Ford's "darkest hour."

"When we got into a really tough period, I sat down with Ron and I said, 'You have to help me save the Ford Motor Company so we didn't have to go through bankruptcy, so we didn't have to get a federal bailout,'" Ford said. "And he did that."

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TheSteve - 3/28/2014 3:15:41 PM

+1 Boost

Many athletes thank God for their victory, while others thank their mom. This just shows you the diversity of beliefs that people have, doesn't it?

nguyenvuminh - 3/28/2014 3:37:32 PM

+2 Boost

Heresy - let's burn him at the cross :-) I'll say this though, of all the agents out there, I wouldn't have thought 009 to post something like this so thumbs up 009. Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly fond of unions in the auto industry but you have to wonder why is it the strong European unions seem to work with those car mfrs better than us here.

Agent009 - 3/28/2014 4:17:00 PM

+1 Boost

I think that at that time Ford and the UAW were on the same page. The trust between the two made forging an agreement a worthwhile endeavor.

GM certainly was not even close and who knows what Chrysler was up to.

xjug1987a - 3/28/2014 5:05:16 PM

+2 Boost

Bill is a super nice guy but the UAW is unnecessary. He's being PC to foster good relations, am pretty sure the contract is up soon. Alan Mulally saved the company. If the UAW had not cooperated with their plan, there would be no jobs and no company and it would have been largely their fault. Mulally for CEO of the Decade.

ricks0me - 3/28/2014 6:40:36 PM

+3 Boost

I have to agree with the above post but need to add something that is not talked about>>>>

Bill ford was HUMBLE enough to tell himself that he was not the right guy to lead Ford Motors. He hit a home run by getting Alan Mulally to run the company.