DETROIT – The United Auto Workers on Wednesday added a major Ford Motor Company plant to its strike against the Big Three in a move that union officials say was necessary amid stagnant negotiations.
After speaking with Ford on Wednesday, Oct. 11, the UAW decided to call a strike at the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, adding 9,000 more workers to its ongoing auto strike. Union President Shawn Fain told Local 4 Wednesday that the UAW felt it had “no option but to escalate” its strike against Ford after the company made “the same offer” it made two weeks ago.
“It’s frustrating, we have been at the table every day ... working so hard to bring an equitable and fair agreement to the membership,” Fain said. “They ask us to meet tonight, we went to meet, and they give us the same offer that they gave us two weeks ago -- really no progress.”
Since the strike began on Sept. 15, Fain has been targeting strikes at increasingly valuable auto facilities as negotiations continue with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. The union is hoping to speed up the talks that began in July, and to push automakers closer to their aggressive list of demands that include a significant wage increase, cost of living allowances, pension restoration and more.
In response to the announcement of the new strike location, Ford said the UAW deemed their offer as the best offer on the table. Negotiations have carried on amid the strike, and progress has been made, but the UAW chief told Local 4 Wednesday night that the offers on the table from each company are “not where our membership needs to be.”
The Detroit Big Three have inched closer to the union’s wage increase demand, in addition to other requested benefits, and GM has even agreed to include electric vehicle battery production under the union’s national contract in a huge win for autoworkers. Still, the UAW hasn’t reached a deal with any of the companies, and says more work needs to be done at the bargaining table.
With the addition of Ford’s Kentucky plant -- which makes the Ford Super Duty line of pickups, Ford Expeditions and the Lincoln Navigator -- about 34,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 autoworkers were striking at 44 facilities as of Wednesday. That number could grow even more by the end of the week, with Fain expected to address members during a live social media announcement on Friday, Oct. 13 -- a setup he has often used to announce more strike locations.
The union wrote on social media that Fain will “give bargaining updates and take further action if needed” during the Friday update.
So far, the UAW has shut down facilities that make midsize pickup trucks, SUVs and commercial vans, and has allowed automakers to continue producing pickup trucks and large SUVs, their most profitable vehicles. But the union could be moving into bigger territory and adding strikes at facilities that make more profitable vehicles, like it did with Ford’s Kentucky plant.
Ford said Wednesday that the Kentucky strike “carries serious consequences for our workforce, suppliers, dealers and commercial customers.” Ford, GM and Stellantis have all announced layoffs amid the strike, citing complications that it has caused -- though Fain argues the Big Three has more than enough money to keep everyone on their payroll.
Fain said last week that GM was close to seeing a strike at its Arlington Assembly plant in Texas, the company’s “largest money maker.” GM averted that strike, however, when it came forward and agreed to include EV battery production under the UAW’s contract.
---> UAW: GM to include EV battery production in US contract in huge win for autoworkers
It’s currently unknown what auto facilities could be added to the strike if Fain announces another expansion Friday. The strike was not expanded at all last week due to progress with the negotiations.
Hear what Fain told Local 4 Wednesday in the video below.