UAW threatens strike over local contracts at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant

The United Automotive Workers (UAW) union has threatened to launch a strike at a key Ford truck plant in Kentucky after local negotiations have not come to an agreement nearly five months following the contract deadline.

In a press release on Friday, the UAW threatened to put the site’s roughly 9,000 workers on strike next week, saying that Ford has failed to reach a local agreement with UAW Local 862 at Louisville Assembly even after more than five months since the contract deadline. As a result, the union has set a strike deadline for 12:01 a.m., Friday, February 23, if the Local 862 contract issues are not resolved.

The plant, often dubbed the Kentucky Truck Plant, produces the Ford F-250 to F-550 Super Duty Trucks, the Ford Expedition and the luxury Lincoln Navigator, according to Ford’s website. It’s also known for being Ford’s most profitable factory, with roughly $25 billion per year generated in revenue, and it played a key role in the UAW strikes at Ford, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis facilities last fall.

Local contracts are a part of the tentative national agreements Ford came to with the UAW in October, though Local 862 members were also some of the few across the “Big Three” to initially vote against the proposed contract. Ford says the Kentucky Truck Plant employed 9,251 workers as of August, 8,700 of which were hourly workers.

At the time of writing, Ford has not responded to Teslarati’s request for comment.

Following the agreements reached with Ford, GM and Stellantis in November, the UAW has pointed its crosshairs at other automakers with U.S. facilities that are not unionized, including Tesla, Toyota, Hyundai, and several others. Earlier this month, it was reported that a majority of workers had signed union cards at a non-unionized Volkswagen factory in Tennessee, where the automaker produces the electric ID.4.

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