UAW calls for strike at Ford Kentucky Truck Plant
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CBS DETROIT) - The United Auto Workers union announced Wednesday that 8,700 members at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant have been called to join the strike against Detroit's three big automakers.
The union says in a social media post that the walkout was called after "Ford refuses to make further movement in bargaining."
"We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message," UAW President Shawn Fain said on X, formerly Twitter.
UAW members just walked off the job, shutting down Ford’s iconic and extremely profitable Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.
— UAW (@UAW) October 11, 2023
“We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.#StandUpUAW pic.twitter.com/BD72mfROBj
In a statement, Ford said UAW calling the walkout is "grossly irresponsible."
"The decision by the UAW to call a strike at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant is grossly irresponsible but unsurprising given the union leadership's stated strategy of keeping the Detroit 3 wounded for months through "reputational damage" and "industrial chaos."
Ford made an outstanding offer that would make a meaningful positive difference in the quality of life for our 57,000 UAW-represented workers, who are already among the best compensated hourly manufacturing workers anywhere in the world. In addition to our offer on pay and benefits, Ford has been bargaining in good faith this week on joint venture battery plants, which are slated to begin production in the coming year.
The UAW leadership's decision to reject this record contract offer – which the UAW has publicly described as the best offer on the table – and strike Kentucky Truck Plant, carries serious consequences for our workforce, suppliers, dealers and commercial customers. Kentucky Truck is Ford's largest plant and one of the largest auto factories in America and the world. The vehicles produced at the Louisville-based factory – the F-Series Super Duty, the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator – generate $25 billion a year in revenue. In addition to affecting approximately 9,000 direct employees at the plant, this work stoppage will generate painful aftershocks – including putting at risk approximately a dozen additional Ford operations and many more supplier operations that together employ well over 100,000 people.
This decision by the UAW is all the more wrongheaded given that Ford is the only automaker to add UAW jobs since the Great Recession and assemble all of its full-size trucks in America."
The automaker proposed its seventh offer last week that would run through April 20, 2028. That offer included a more than 20% pay increase for permanent workers and a 26% pay increase for temporary workers.
Ford also announced 400 temporary layoffs at the Livonia Transmission Plant and Sterling Heights Axle Plant.
Thousands of autoworkers have remained on strike for nearly a month after no agreement was met with Ford, Stellantis and General Motors at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14.