In an unannounced move, thousands of United Auto Workers (UAW) union members walked off the job Wednesday, shutting down Ford Motor Company’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, and ramping up the continued strike against Detroit's Big Three automakers
The strike comes on day 27 of the UAW strike, with 8,700 UAW members walking off the job at 6:30 p.m.
United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters on a picket line outside the Stellantis NV Toledo Assembly Complex in Toldeo, Ohio, Sept. 22, 2023. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File/Fox News / Getty Images)
UAW President Shawn Fain said in a press release that the strike at the Kentucky plant comes since the automaker has "not gotten the message" from union members.
"We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message," Fain said. "It’s time for a fair contract at Ford and the rest of the Big Three. If they can’t understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it."
Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant manufactures Ford Super Duty pickups, as well as the Ford Expedition, and the Lincoln Navigator.
UAW members attend a rally in support of the labor union strike at the UAW Local 551 hall in Chicago. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The strike has resulted in thousands of layoffs at the automakers, as the strike continues without an agreed upon resolution.
Total strike-related layoffs have now reached around 2,300 at GM, which has been the hardest hit by the strike. Ford has laid off a total of 1,865 workers since the strike began, and Stellantis has laid off 640.
Around 25,000 of the 150,000 UAW members employed by the Big Three are on strike, but shutdowns at critical assembly plants is eliminating work at other factories, contributing to the layoffs.
UAW and Ford Motor Company did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
FOX Business' Breck Dumas contributed to this report.