UAW President Sean Fine during a webcast updating union members on negotiations with automakers in Detroit on October 6, 2023.
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DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union threatens a labor strike ford motor The largest US manufacturer if local union demands are not resolved by next week.
Nearly 9,000 UAW auto workers at a Ford truck plant in Kentucky may go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 23 if local contract issues persist, the Detroit union said Friday. The plant — Ford's largest in terms of employment and revenue — produces Ford Super Duty pickup trucks as well as the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs.
The local contracts differ from the national agreements that the federation ratified in late 2023 with Ford. General Motors And parent company Chrysler Stellantis. They deal with plant-specific issues and can often remain unresolved for months, if not years, after national agreements are ratified.
“The key issues in local negotiations for the Kentucky Truck Plant are health and safety at the plant, including minimum staffing levels for nurses at the plant and ergonomic issues, as well as Ford’s continued attempts to undermine the skilled trades at the Kentucky Truck Plant,” the union said.
Plant workers and UAW union members form a picket line outside a Ford Motor Co. truck plant. Kentucky in the early morning hours of October 12, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Luc Charette | Getty Images
It was not immediately clear why the union set the strike deadline at the Ford plant and not at another plant. There are 19 other open local agreements across Ford, along with several open local agreements at GM and Stellantis.
“Negotiations are ongoing and we look forward to reaching an agreement with UAW Local 862 at the Kentucky truck plant,” Ford, which is proud of its relationship with the UAW, said in an email statement.
The strike deadline comes a day after UAW President Sean Fine criticized Ford CEO Jim Farley over comments he made suggesting the automaker would “think carefully” about where it will build future vehicles in light of changing market conditions and contentious negotiations. Last year with the union, which included six weeks of targeted strikes.
Farley specifically mentioned the October UAW strike against a Kentucky truck plant as a key moment in the company's changing relationship with the union.
“We were the first truck manufacturer they closed,” Farley said Thursday during Wolf Research's investor conference. “Clearly, our relationship has changed. It was a watershed moment for the company. Did it have an impact on the business? Yes.” “As we look at this EV transition and… [internal combustion engine]“For it to last longer and for our truck business to be more profitable, we have to think carefully about our footprint.”
Fine, a historically combative union leader, responded in part by saying: “Maybe Ford doesn't need to move plants to find the cheapest labor on Earth.” “Maybe you need to recommit to American workers and find a CEO who cares about the future of the auto industry in this country.”
