UAW threatens to strike at Ford truck plant in Kentucky

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is threatening to strike at a Ford truck plant in Louisville, Ky.

The union said nearly 9,000 UAW autoworkers at the plant will strike next Friday if “local contract issues are not resolved,” according to a Friday press release.

Following Ford’s failure to reach an agreement with UAW Local 862 at the plant more than five months past a contract deadline, “UAW Vice President Chuck Browning has requested authorization from UAW President [Shawn] Fain to set a strike deadline” for early next Friday morning, the press release continued.

“The core issues in Kentucky Truck Plant’s local negotiations are health and safety in the plant, including minimum in-plant nurse staffing levels and ergonomic issues, as well as Ford’s continued attempts to erode the skilled trades at Kentucky Truck Plant,” the release reads.

The threat comes after the company lost $1.7 billion in profits following a six-week UAW strike last year, Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said in a November press release.

Lawler said the losses were due to “interruptions in production of high-margin trucks and SUVs,” causing sales to fall to around 100,000 units lower than Ford had expected.

Former President Trump has been feuding with Fain recently, a quarrel that hit a fever pitch when the UAW decided to endorse President Biden in the upcoming presidential election. Fain has also taken verbal swipes at the former president, with the union president at one point referring to Trump as a “scab.”

“Donald Trump is a billionaire, and that’s who he represents,” Fain said. “If Donald Trump ever worked in an auto plant, he wouldn’t be a UAW member. He’d be a company man trying to squeeze the American worker. Donald Trump stands against everything we stand for as a union.”

“This choice is clear,” he added. “Joe Biden bet on the American worker while Donald Trump blamed the American worker.”

Trump then went after Fain, accusing him of selling the auto industry “right into the big, powerful hands of China.”

“Shawn Fain doesn’t understand this or have a clue,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Get rid of this dope & vote for DJT. I will bring the Automobile Industry back to our Country.”

Ford, in a statement to The Hill, said “negotiations continue and we look forward to reaching an agreement with UAW Local 862 at Kentucky Truck Plant.”