The United Auto Workers union is sending workers at Ford Motor Co.’s highly profitable Kentucky Truck Plant on strike.
The union announced the escalation of its targeted plant walkout about 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.
The plant produces Ford’s Super Duty trucks and a pair of large SUVs, the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator.
A UAW spokesperson did not immediately provide clarification on the deleted post and responded to The Detroit News via text with a shrug emoji. Ford did not immediately have comment.
A walkout at the Kentucky plant would add significantly to the 25,300 autoworkers on the picket lines at select Ford, GM and Stellantis facilities across the country. The strike, which union leaders have said could expand at any time depending on progress at the bargaining table, has included Ford’s Bronco and Ranger plant in Wayne and its Explorer and Lincoln Aviator plant in Chicago; Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio; GM’s midsize pickup and commercial van plant in Wentzville, Missouri and its Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave plant outside Lansing; and 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers.
The strike has resulted in thousands of layoffs at the automakers and their suppliers, and, by one estimate, some $5.5 billion in economic losses to workers, automakers, suppliers, dealers and consumers.
Battery plant raises
BlueOval SK, the joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and battery manufacturer SK On, isn’t done building three battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee but it’s already offering higher wages to prospective workers.
The company said in a news release Wednesday that it’s raising wages for maintenance technicians and associate maintenance technicians to between $24 and $37.50 per hour, based on experience.
The offer of higher wages comes as contract negotiations between the Detroit automakers — including Ford — and the United Auto Workers continue, including discussions on battery plants and whether they will be included in the union’s master agreements with the companies. The UAW launched an unprecedented simultaneous strike of all three automakers Sept. 15; the targeted walkout marked its 27th day Wednesday.
One of the most significant developments of the talks so far was the revelation last week that General Motors Co. had agreed to include its joint-venture battery plants in its national agreement with the union, though details of how that will work haven’t been revealed. As a result, the union at the last minute decided not to expand the strike to GM’s full-size SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, which is its most profitable facility.
The wages of workers at Ultium Cells LLC, the GM-LG Energy Solution joint venture could increase as a result of that agreement. The JV and the UAW in August struck a deal to raise the starting rate for production operators to $20 per hour from $16.50. Their pay would increase to $21 per hour after six months on the job or 1,000 hours worked. Maintenance technicians there make between $25 per hour and $32.50 per hour.
NextStar Energy, the joint venture between Stellantis NV and LG Energy Solution in Windsor, Ontario, hasn’t publicly shared details on worker compensation there.
UAW leaders representing Stellantis workers have said they expect the automaker to follow the pattern set by GM, even though Stellantis doesn’t have an operating battery plant in North America yet. That’ll soon change, though. The maker of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles on Wednesday announced Kokomo, Indiana, will be the home of not one, but two electric-vehicle battery manufacturing plants with a $3.2 billion second location to open in early 2027.
Kokomo, now the hub of the company’s current powertrain operations, will host the second U.S. plant of StarPlus Energy, its joint venture with Korean battery maker Samsung SDI. Construction is underway on the first StarPlus Energy plant in Kokomo, which is on track to open by the first quarter of 2025.
Meanwhile, BlueOval SK said it will start on-boarding maintenance techs, associate maintenance techs and production operators in Tennessee this month. It’s already hiring in Kentucky.
The company said that construction is on schedule at both campuses. Ford and SK are investing $11.4 billion to build two battery plants at BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, Kentucky and a manufacturing campus called BlueOval City in Stanton, Tennessee that includes a battery plant. Production is scheduled to start in 2025.
“These new, higher wages are more competitive and in line with the current market,” BlueOval SK Human Resources Director Neva McGruder Burke said in a statement. “We are excited to offer great wages and excellent benefits to all of our employees.”
Ford has said it “remains open to the possibility of working with the UAW on future battery plants in the United States” but noted that they “are multi-billion-dollar investments and must operate at competitive and sustainable levels.” Three of the four battery plants we’ve announced are part of the BlueOval SK joint venture between Ford and SK On.”
“The workforce for these operations has not been hired. The future employees at these operations can choose to be union represented and enter into the collective bargaining process,” the company said in a statement last week.
Pay for maintenance technicians will range from $28.50 per hour to $37.50 per hour. Associate maintenance technicians will make between $24 per hour and $27.75 per hour. Production operators will start at $21 per hour.
The company says that hourly employees will be eligible for “regular” pay increases every six months.
“Once an employee reaches the top wage range, our human resources team will regularly assess pay increases to maintain competitiveness,” the company said. “In addition, hourly employees will be eligible for bonuses up to 5% annually based on position and performance. Our employees can also expect low-cost medical premiums, 401(k) matching, Ford friends and family vehicle discount benefits, vision and dental insurance.”
Meanwhile, contract negotiations progressed on the other side of the border, where Canadian autoworkers union Unifor on Tuesday reached a tentative agreement covering some 4,300 GM workers after a brief strike. The GM workers will vote this weekend on whether to ratify the agreement. Unifor already has settled with Ford; next up is Stellantis.
The number of UAW members on picket lines could expand later this month after members at General Dynamics voted 97% to authorize a strike. The defense contractor has some 1,100 members in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
As of midday Wednesday, 30,000 UAW members were on strike, including Detroit Three autoworkers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan workers, and nearly 4,000 workers at Mack Trucks, Inc. who walked out at the start of the week.
Some 3,700 Detroit casino workers, who are represented by a union council that includes the UAW, also could go on strike next week after authorizing a walkout. Workers are seeking wage increases, better retirement benefits, protections against the implementation of new technology, and other contract improvements.
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