Autoworkers at Ford's Kentucky truck plant served strike notice
Feb. 16, 2024 1:46 PM ETFord Motor Company (F) StockGM, STLABy: Amy Thielen, SA News Editor6 CommentsMATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images
The UAW has issued a strike order to more than 9K Ford (NYSE:F) autoworkers at the company’s Kentucky Truck Plant if contract issues are not resolved by Feb. 23.
Unable to reach an agreement with Ford (F) over core issues including health and safety at the plant, nurse staffing levels, and Ford’s (F) "continued attempts to erode the skilled trades” at the Kentucky plant, UAW Vice President Chuck Browning has requested authorization from the UAW to strike.
The decision to strike comes after Ford (F) CEO Jim Farley said the company’s labor issues could determine where it builds new vehicles.
At the Wolfe Research Global Auto Conference, Farley acknowledged the contract negotiations with the UAW last fall and subsequent pay hikes exacerbates Ford’s (F) lack of competitiveness. Farley said Ford (F) is working on ways to lower key expenses and is looking to offset the higher costs tied to the new UAW contract.
“Our reliance on the UAW turned out to be [that] we were the first truck plant to be shut down [by the strike],” Farley said, adding that the strike was a “watershed moment” for the company.
The strike resulted in a 27% pay raise for top-scale factory workers to around $42 per hour and runs until April 2028. Ford (F) said the new contract will cost the company $8.8B over the four and a half year term.