Last night, UAW President Shawn Fain took the UAW strike against the Detroit 3 to a whole new level calling for the Ford Kentucky truck plant strike. That plant builds the Ford Super Duty, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
The strike took effect at 6:30 pm EST on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
Ford Kentucky truck plant strike
The UAW has been using targeted strikes for weeks now to pressure automakers to agree to their demands for better pay, end of tiers, guarantee’s UAW members will be part of new electric vehicle production and a reduced work week among other things.
This new Ford Kentucky truck plant strike affects 8,700 UAW members and could really hurt Ford in the coming months and even years to come.
In a press release Ford said the Kentucky truck plant, “ generates $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 UAW countered this statement with their own messaging.
“The strike was called after Ford refused to make further movement in bargaining,” the union said in a release. “The surprise move marks a new phase in the UAW’s Stand Up Strike.”
The Stand Up Strike just hit Ford’s biggest plant. Here’s how it went down, and why 8,700 members at Kentucky Truck Plant took action.#StandUpUAW pic.twitter.com/mzO0AZGMKS
— UAW (@UAW) October 12, 2023
Fain said they came to the bargaining table to get another offer from Ford, but the same offer from two weeks ago was presented again. He rejected that offer and called on UAW leadership at the Kentucky Truck plant to strike.
While details on the offer are still private, Ford says the offer is a record.
“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.”
In the past few weeks, the UAW has used targeted strikes at a variety of GM, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) plants and parts distribution centers.
The bottom line
Consumers and businesses should prepare themselves for limited inventory in the coming months of Ford trucks as well as replacement parts for those vehicles. This strike simply doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.
