Yesterday, Ford CEO Jim Farley said last year’s strike changed their relationship with the UAW and would cause the company to think carefully about where vehicles are made in the future. He also expressed his frustration by saying “Our reliance on the UAW turned out to be we were the first truck plant to be shut down.”
The UAW is now responding as they’re threatening to shut down the Kentucky Truck Plant once again. The facility builds the F-Series Super Duty as well as the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. It’s one of Ford’s most important plants and the original strike there was seen as an act of war.
Fast forward to today and the UAW says nearly 9,000 workers will go on strike “if local contract issues are not resolved.” The union added that Ford “has failed to reach a local agreement with UAW Local 862 at Kentucky Truck Plant more than five months past the contract deadline.” The UAW went on to explain that in addition to national contracts, there are local agreements that involve plant-specific issues at each facility.
The UAW has set a strike deadline of February 23rd at 12:01 a.m. and they said the core issues are “health and safety in the plant, including minimum in-plant nurse staffing levels and ergonomic issues, as well as Ford’s continued attempts to erode the skilled trades at Kentucky Truck Plant.”
More: Ford CEO’s Not So Subtle Message To The UAW? You Screwed Yourselves
Besides the Kentucky Truck Plant, the UAW said there are “19 other open local agreements across Ford, along with several open local agreements at GM and Stellantis.” This means more strikes are possible, although it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Ford was targeted less than 24 hours after Farley’s remarks.
H/T to CNBC
