The United Auto Workers union strike expanded this week as 8,700 UAW members walked off the job and shut down Ford’s iconic Kentucky truck plant on Wednesday.
“We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.
BREAKING: The 8,700 UAW members at Ford’s iconic and extremely profitable Kentucky Truck Plant have joined the Stand Up Strike after Ford refuses to make further movement in bargaining.
Workers are walking off the job right now.
STAND UP!
— UAW (@UAW) October 11, 2023
For the first time in the history of the 150,000-member United Auto Workers Union, members went on strike against the “Big 3” manufacturers last month after no deal was reached.
The “Big 3” include Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the newly-formed merger of Fiat Chrysler and the PSA Group.
“Key demands from the union have included 40% hourly pay increases; a reduced, 32-hour, workweek; a shift back to traditional pensions; the elimination of compensation tiers; and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments. Other items on the table include enhanced retiree benefits and better vacation and family leave benefits,” CNBC reported.
Kentucky Truck Plant workers shut it down this week. This is Ford’s biggest and most profitable plant.
“Ford’s Kentucky truck plant, its most profitable operation, generates $25 billion in annual revenue, about a sixth of the company’s global automotive revenue. The company’s shares fell about 2% in after-hours trading, after closing 0.4% higher on Wednesday.” Reuters reported.
WATCH:
Local 862 is shutting it down at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant! Workers have now walked off the job and are joining the Stand Up Strike!#StandUpUAW pic.twitter.com/NVqlbunZMH
— UAW (@UAW) October 11, 2023
“Who are we? U-A-W!” striking auto workers in Kentucky shouted this week.
WATCH:
“Who are we? U-A-W!”#UAW Local 862 members (Kentucky Truck Plant) are holding the line for economic justice.#StandUpUAW pic.twitter.com/YuiyGkE6lq
— UAW (@UAW) October 12, 2023
Reuters reported:
United Auto Workers on Wednesday shut down Ford’s (F.N) biggest plant globally, halting production of lucrative pickup trucks with little warning, in a sharp escalation of the union’s four-week targeted strike against the Detroit Three automakers.
The UAW said that 8,700 union members at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant went on strike after the union said the No. 2 U.S. automaker refused to move further in contract bargaining.
Automakers have more than doubled initial wage hike offers, agreed to raise wages along with inflation, and improved pay for temporary workers, but the union wants higher wages still, the abolishment of a two-tier wage system and the expansion of unions to battery plants at all three companies.
UAW President Shawn Fain’s decision to shut down assembly lines that build Ford Super Duty pickup trucks and Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition large SUVs is a blow to Ford that could quickly undermine the automaker’s full-year profits.
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