UAW President Sean Fine called a surprise strike by an estimated 9,000 workers late Wednesday at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, the Detroit Free Press has confirmed.
Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862, told the Free Press at 6:10 p.m. that he had been called to a meeting and was preparing for workers to leave soon. He added that the work shift started at six in the evening.
“We are meeting now as we speak,” he said. “We have been chosen to be the next lever of influence in an international strike. We are called by our leadership. It is time to stand up and do our duty.”
Dunn told the Free Press that the UAW’s 9,000 or so members have long prepared for this moment and are prepared to do what is needed to help the strike succeed.
Without warning, thousands of workers left their jobs at 6:30 p.m., after union officials toured the factory at 6:25 p.m., hung up the line and told workers to exit peacefully, a source inside the factory confirmed to the Free. He presses.
Kentucky Truck manufactures the Ford F-Series Super Duty, Ford Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator. The Super Duty is among the most profitable products the Dearborn automaker sells.
UAW shuts down $25 billion plant
The company confirmed on Wednesday that the stunning site is now Ford’s largest factory and one of the largest car factories in the world. Vehicles manufactured there generate $25 billion in revenue annually, Ford said Wednesday in its press release.
An urgent alert was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the UAW at 5:44pm and received 16 views, 4 likes and 1 repost before being deleted. It read: “BREAKING: 8,700 UAW members at Ford’s famous and highly profitable Kentucky truck plant have joined a strike after Ford refused to make further bargaining action. Workers are walking off the job now. Stand up!”
Then, at 6:30 p.m., the UAW reposted its previous message announcing the strike.
This is the most impactful move yet against any automaker, with highly profitable products being used without notice. The UAW strike against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis after their contracts expired began at 11:59 p.m. on September 14. More than 20,000 auto industry workers are marching on picket lines nationwide, while the closure of auto factories and spare parts warehouses has created an additional ripple effect of layoffs by automakers and their suppliers.
UAW: ‘We’ve been completely clear’
The UAW issued a press release at 6:35 p.m. that said: “In an unannounced move, 8,700 UAW members left their jobs today at 6:30 p.m. ET, closing Ford Motor Company’s popular and highly profitable Kentucky Truck Plant.” In Louisville, a strike was called after Ford refused to make further bargaining moves.
“This surprise move marks a new phase in the UAW’s Stand Up Strike campaign,” the UAW statement said. “Previous expansions of the strike occurred on a deadline previously set by the union. The move comes one day before four weeks have passed since the expiration of contracts at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.”
“We’ve been very clear, and we’ve waited long enough, but Ford hasn’t gotten the message,” Fine said in a statement late Wednesday. “It’s time to get a fair contract with Ford and the rest of the Big Three. If they can.” “I don’t understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this very profitable plant are going to help them understand.”
Strike on Super Duty is ‘grossly irresponsible’
In response to the UAW’s strike move, the Dearborn automaker issued a statement calling the union’s decision to target the profitable plant “highly irresponsible but unsurprising given the union leadership’s stated strategy of keeping the Detroit 3 wounded for months through ‘reputational damage’ and ‘The industry is a mess.’ Ford said it had “made a great offer” that would make “a positive, meaningful difference in the quality of life for our 57,000 UAW-represented workers, who are already among the best-paid hourly manufacturing workers anywhere in the world.”
While making progress on wages and benefits, Ford said it was “negotiating in good faith this week on the joint battery plants, which are scheduled to begin production in the coming years.” “What the UAW has publicly described as the best offer on the table — and striking a Kentucky truck plant — carries severe consequences for our workforce, suppliers, dealers and commercial customers,” Ford said.
“In addition to impacting approximately 9,000 direct employees at the plant, this work stoppage will generate painful aftershocks — including jeopardizing approximately a dozen additional Ford operations and numerous other supplier operations that together employ more than 100,000,” Ford said. person”. “This decision by the UAW is very wrong considering that Ford is the only automaker to have added UAW jobs since the Great Recession and assembles all of its full-size trucks in America.”
U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat who represents Louisville, posted on the site formerly known as Twitter: “I stand with our brothers and sisters @UAW on strike. Local 862 is responsible for 54% of Ford’s North American profits, and their workers deserve a fair contract, benefits and wages Good and safe working conditions. “Louisville is a union town and it will stay that way.”
Ford is continuing to negotiate how to run its battery plants and retirement security, issues the UAW said were top priorities this week, a Ford source said late Wednesday.
Ford then received a phone call Wednesday afternoon from the UAW calling for a meeting with Ford, saying union officials wanted to see an improved economic offer, the Ford source said. Fine and UAW Vice President Chuck Browning went to Ford’s global headquarters with the entire negotiating team and met on the second floor, the Ford source said. The Ford source said they arrived and asked what Ford was offering. The source said it was around 5:30 pm or so.
Ford negotiators told the UAW there wasn’t much additional room for economy and they didn’t have an immediate updated offer. At that point, a Ford source said, “Sean (Fine) stood up and said, ‘If that’s all you’ve got, you’ve just lost KTP (Kentucky Truck Plant).” “And that was the end of the meeting,” the Ford source said.
Ford said it is committed to resolving the strike but this latest action will affect at least a dozen other facilities.
Here are some of Ford’s proposals to the UAW during the 2023 negotiating period:
- wages: At the end of August, Ford offered a 15% raise over the life of the contract. October 3 offer “over 20%” with immediate double-digit increase upon ratification.
- Cola:August: Ford offered a lump sum of $12,000 in lieu of COLA recovery. October 3: Traditional COLA will be introduced to provide “inflation protection.”
- Eliminate classes: Ford has offered to eliminate pay levels — to enable employees at Rawsonville Components and Sterling Axle to reach the highest pay rate.
- temporary: The first offer was a pay raise to $20 ($16.67 now) and a full endorsement bonus. The October 3 offer is $21 per hour, 90-day turnaround, full validation bonus and revenue sharing.
- the retirement: Increased 401(k) contribution but no defined benefit plan rollbacks in either offer.
Check back with freep.com for updates on this developing story.
Free Press staff writer Jimmy L. LaRue contributed to this report.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.
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