Working Conditions in Ford Plants

Since 2004, we have conducted 11 formal assessments of Ford facilities, four of which were joint-venture facilities.

During 2007, we conducted assessments at our Camaçari facility in Bahia, Brazil, at our two South African facilities (one a 90-percent Ford-owned joint venture), and at our sole facility in Russia. These four sites were selected by Ford's Sustainable Business Strategies and Purchasing Strategy functions based on the sites' impact on our supply chain, emerging issues and the views of thought leaders, NGOs and human rights activists.

The process for assessing Ford facilities includes a questionnaire to be completed by facility management and a detailed review of documents related to the full range of working conditions issues (e.g., collective bargaining agreements, grievance procedure logs, employee hotline records and health and safety audit reports). The findings of the questionnaire and document review serve as the basis for interviews with facility management. Where procedures and/or documentation are lacking, or where we feel it would otherwise be valuable, the assessments also include facility visits.

The findings of the assessments are initially shared with human rights organizations with which Ford works and then published on our Web site. We have sought the opinions of neutral third parties who have visited plants and/or reviewed the assessment process, and they have agreed that the process is robust and has integrity.

The findings of the 2007 assessments were generally consistent with those of previous assessments. That is, they confirmed that Ford's wholly and majority-owned facilities are operating in compliance with our CBWC. Reflecting the expanded scope of the CBWC, the assessments also discuss and document community engagement efforts, effects on indigenous populations and environmental initiatives.

We have received considerable and consistent positive feedback from external stakeholders about the policies and systems in place at Ford facilities. While we and our stakeholders have confidence in our systems, we nonetheless believe it is important to continue conducting the assessments given that conditions can change and new issues emerge.

In 2008, we plan to conduct assessments in select Ford facilities in Chicago (USA), Hai Duong (Vietnam) and Santa Rosa (Philippines).