Ford Motor Co. announced on Monday that the 2023 UAW strike led to hundreds of additional new and unexpected layoffs at two new locations as a ripple effect.
The strike at the Chicago assembly plant, announced by UAW President Sean Fine on Friday, directly affected some operations at the separate Chicago Stamping Plant and Lima Engine Plant.
About 330 employees have been asked not to report to work, and the layoffs began Saturday in Chicago and Monday in Lima, Ohio, Ford spokesman Dan Barbosa said Monday in a news release.
“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means that the UAW’s targeted strike strategy has indirect impacts on facilities that are not directly targeted by downtime,” Barbosa said.
“These are not lockdowns,” he said. “These layoffs are a result of the strike at the Chicago Assembly Plant, because these three facilities must reduce production of parts normally shipped to the Chicago Assembly Plant.”
Chicago Assembly builds the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator.
The 330 layoffs are in addition to 600 layoffs at the Michigan assembly plant, which builds the Ford Bronco and Ranger, starting Sept. 15, bringing Ford’s total to 930 employees affected by the strike-related layoffs, the company said Monday.
more:Regular paychecks to striking UAW members have stopped
The UAW, when contacted by the Detroit Free Press, did not immediately comment on the situation.
The factory workers are watching and waiting anxiously
Derek Cole, a Hi-Lo driver at the Kansas City assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri, said he knew last week that targeting the Chicago association would have consequences in other states.
“Every shift, we have two rail cars unloading parts for Chicago Stamping,” Cole told the Free Press. “That’s all they do all day. It’s a large amount of parts for our shop.”
Cole, who started with Ford in Detroit 27 years ago, said he receives parts in his plant area from Chicago Stamping and takes them to employees who build the Ford Transit Van. He said thousands of UAW workers are watching and hoping for a tentative agreement.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @phoebesaid.
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