DETROIT Ford Motor Co said about 8,000 U.S. workers represented by the United Auto Workers union will get an average $4.33 an hour in additional pay under provisions of the current contract agreed in 2019.

Ford announced the pay increases as talks with the UAW for a new contract are headed for a Sept. 14 strike deadline.

The union has rejected Ford's recent wage increase proposals as inadequate. But Ford was the first among the Detroit Three automakers to put forward a detailed economic proposal in this contract round as it campaigns to set the labor pattern for the unionized U.S. automakers.

Under Ford's 2019 contract, permanent hourly manufacturing employees were eligible for a pay increase if they were hired prior to the 2019 contract effective date and were earning at least $24.40 per hour as of Sept. 1, 2023, the company said in a statement.

(Reporting by Joe White; editing by Jason Neely)