UAW’s surprise strike may ‘force Ford’s hand’
The United Auto Workers extended their strike Wednesday night and that could mean trouble for Ford.
Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports
The UAW described an unplanned strike at Ford’s sprawling Kentucky truck plant as a massive escalation because that plant makes Ford’s F-250 to F-550 super-duty trucks, the Expedition SUV and the Lincoln Navigator SUV. While the best-selling F-150 has been salvaged, Ford says the Kentucky truck plant Responsible for $25 billion In revenue annually.
the The UAW said in a statement The strike was called at Kentucky Truck after Ford “refused to make further bargaining action,” marking a new phase for stand-up strikes. “If they can’t understand that after four weeks, 8,700 workers are shutting down this very profitable plant will help them understand,” Fine said.
Ford’s response came quickly Wednesday night: The automaker called the UAW’s latest move “wildly irresponsible,” but not surprising. The company added that the strike at Kentucky Truck “carries serious consequences for our workforce, suppliers, dealers and commercial customers.”
The UAW has 8,700 Kentucky truck workers. But Ford officials said the ripple effect of the Kentucky truck would affect dozens of other Ford operations and suppliers, which employ about 100,000 workers.
The financial impact and pain point of this move is significant.
“Targeting Ford’s Kentucky truck plant impacts some of the most expensive products they make, including the SuperDuty, which sells for up to $100,000,” Sam Fiorani, an auto industry expert at AutoForecast Solutions (AFS), told Yahoo Finance. “Expanding the strike to this facility is intended to force Ford and get them to the table faster.”
Fiorani, whose company tracks vehicle production and factory productivity around the world, says Kentucky vehicle profits could easily reach $10,000 per unit, making it among the most important vehicles in Ford’s product portfolio.
“It’s also a cross-industry opportunity to tell GM and Stellantis to step up their game or else their large, profitable models will be targeted next,” Fiorani said.
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