On October 6, 2023, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain updated union members on the status of negotiations with the Detroit automakers during an online broadcast.
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DETROIT – United Auto Workers threatens strike Ford Motor Company The largest U.S. factory will close if local union demands are not resolved next week.
detroit union Friday said Nearly 9,000 UAW autoworkers at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant could go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on February 23 if local contract issues persist. The plant, Ford’s largest in terms of employment and revenue, builds the Ford Super Duty pickup truck as well as the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs.
The local contract differs from the national agreement the union approved with Ford late last year. General Motors and Chrysler parent company star. They deal with plant-specific issues that many times cannot be resolved months or even years after national protocols are approved.
“At the heart of the local negotiations at the Kentucky Truck Plant are health and safety at the plant, including minimum nurse staffing levels and ergonomics issues at the plant, as well as Ford’s continued attempts to encroach on skilled workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant,” the union said.
In the early morning of October 12, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky, factory workers and UAW union members lined up on picket lines outside the Ford Motor Company’s Kentucky Truck Plant.
Luke Schallert | Getty Images
It’s unclear why the union set a strike deadline at Ford plants and not other plants. Ford has 19 other public local agreements, and General Motors and Stellantis have several public local agreements.
Ford, which has always prided itself on its relationship with the United Auto Workers, was not immediately available for comment.
The strike deadline comes a day after UAW President Shawn Fain criticized comments by Ford CEO Jim Farley, saying that given changing market conditions and last year’s dispute with the union, The automaker will “carefully consider” where future cars will be produced amid contentious negotiations. Including six weeks of targeted strikes.
“Obviously our relationship has changed. This is a watershed moment for the company. Is this having an impact on the business? Yes,” Farley said Thursday at Wolf Research’s investor conference. “As we see the transition to electric vehicles and (internal combustion engines) lasting longer and our truck business becoming more profitable, we have to think carefully about our footprint.”
Fein, a historically combative union leader, responded in part: “Maybe Ford doesn’t need to move factories to find the cheapest labor on earth,” he said. “Perhaps it needs to recommit to American workers and find a CEO who is interested in the future of the auto industry in this country.”
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