While auto companies and labor unions often have adversarial relationships, Ford Motor Executive Chairman Bill Ford offers praise of the UAW autoworkers union.

The UAW helped save the company from bankruptcy during the financial crisis, a fate suffered by its competitors General Motors and Chrysler, Ford told CNBC.

Former UAW President Ron Gettelfinger doesn't receive adequate recognition for helping Ford with its financial problems during its "darkest hour," Bill Ford said.

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

"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."

The UAW helped out on healthcare costs and upgrading performance at manufacturing facilities, Ford said.

Meanwhile, he said his company seeks to learn from GM's problem with its faulty ignition switches.

"It's a tough situation for everyone involved," Ford said. "One thing we do whenever one of our competitors goes through something like this, we try to learn everything we can from it. We review our own processes."

Labor unions have lost much of their clout in recent years. So how will they adapt to that? "Labor will take a page from the tea party movement and try to become more militant and more focused on income inequality," writes Marc Ambinder of The Week.

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

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