ILR gives Buffalo Ford plant and UAW local first 'Champions@Work' award

By Linda Myers

A Ford plant and its unionized workers recently were recognized by Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations for working cooperatively to sustain quality jobs and products and improve the economic climate in Western New York state.

On June 16, the ILR School's extension office in Buffalo presented the first annual Champions@Work Award for sustainable cooperative progress in the workplace to Ford Motor Co.'s Buffalo Stamping Plant and United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 897.

The Buffalo-area plant, which came on line in the 1950s, produces the sheet metal used in a range of Ford vehicle models, including the Taurus, Windstar, Crown Victoria, Mercury Sable and Grand Marquis. It employs 1,750 workers, most of them UAW members, and generates more than $200 million annually for the Buffalo area's economy. Last November the plant celebrated its 300 millionth vehicle -- a crimson red 2004 Mustang GT convertible.

The award presentation, which was cited in the Buffalo News, took place at a dinner meeting of Ford's Lean Implementation Network -- representatives from all 42 of the company's North American plants -- at Top of the Falls, a restaurant overlooking Niagara Falls.

The award was established this year "to recognize high-road partnerships for quality jobs and quality products in Western New York that keep the area competitive," said Lou Jean Fleron, director of the ILR School's economic development initiatives in New York state. The phrase "high road" refers to creating and retaining jobs that pay a fair wage, require skills and offer essential benefits, such as health care, she explained. Such jobs are especially valued and needed in an era when companies continue to outsource much of their work overseas, and many regions of the United States, including parts of New York state, continue to suffer economically as a result. "Too many new jobs tend to be low-paying, service-sector positions, often without benefits," Fleron noted.

The award is an outgrowth of an independent study co-authored by Fleron in 2000, "Champions @Work: Employment, Workplace Practices and Labor-Management Relations in Western New York." As part of the study, Cornell's Survey Research Institute interviewed 377 private-sector employers and 123 unions in the eight counties of Western New York, on workplace practices from 1985 to the present. Included, in addition, were 15 case studies of area employers in a range of industries. The results showed high-performance workplace practices, workforce quality and constructive labor relations in the region (for more information, see this Web page: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/buffalo/champions/executive.html. The study led to the creation of a Champions Network of companies and unions in the health-care, telecommunications, auto and arts and entertainment industries promoting those positive workplace traits. Regina Grogan, who was involved in the June award ceremony, heads the network.

Accepting the award from Fleron were Andrew Herbert, plant manager at Ford Buffalo Stamping Plant, and Charles Gangarossa, president of UAW Local 897. Fleron said of the recipients: "The nitty-gritty work of actually building a high-road economy takes place at ground level, in local plants, offices and union halls. Western New York continues to profit from strong commitment by the area's labor and business leaders to keep good jobs in our community, working day in and day out to improve the performance of area businesses and to assure equitably shared gains. This award recognizes that commitment by the leaders of Ford Buffalo Stamping Plant and UAW Local 897 as well as all the contributions of the 1,700 people who work there."

The 54-acre plant has undergone six major expansions and has invested extensively in workforce training to maintain the globally competitive advantage of its employees, she noted. Benchmark practices that earned it the award include employee involvement, empowered work teams and a joint strategy to improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, morale and the work environment, said Fleron.