Ford chair Bill Ford makes a plea to UAW on Day 32 of strike
DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The executive chair of the Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford, spoke on Monday for the first time since contract talks began over the summer, cautioning the United Auto Workers union that if the company isn't able to invest in its future, "America loses. Many jobs will be lost."
"We need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks," Ford said, speaking at the visitors center of the Ford Rouge Complex.
The great-grandson of the company's founder made a plea to UAW leadership.
"This should not be Ford versus the UAW. It should be Ford and the UAW vs. Toyota and Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market. Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and others are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them. They will win, and all of us will lose," Ford said.
He added the union's decision to call on 8,700 members to strike at the Kentucky Truck Plant will have a major impact on the American economy and devastate local communities.
"For the sake of everyone, we got to get back to work, and how do we find that deal, and we got to get to that deal and take all the personalities and all the rhetoric out of it," Ford told reporters.
In response, UAW President Shawn Fain fired back.
"Bill Ford knows exactly how to settle this strike. Instead of threatening to close the Rouge, he should call up Jim Farley, tell him to stop playing games and get a deal done, or we'll close the Rouge for him," Fain said UAW President Shawn Fain. "It's not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. It's autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed. If Ford wants to be the all-American auto company, they can pay all-American wages and benefits. Workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda, and others are not the enemy—they're the UAW members of the future."
The Anderson Economic Group based in East Lansing estimates the first four weeks of the strike has cost the auto industry $7.7 billion, including
• OEM Direct Wages - $359 million
• Detroit 3 Manufacturers - $3.45 billion
• Supplier Wages and Earnings - $2.67 billion
• Dealers, Customers, Other - $1.21 billion
"I think the challenge the automakers have is as inventories get dwindled down even more and more on the dealers lots of the makes and models affected by the strikes. Do they risk starting to see customers switching over to Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc?" said Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University.
Miller added that in the coming weeks, he'll be keeping an eye on how the strike starts to impact raw materials, such as steel, with substantially less demand.