The United Auto Workers and Ford have tentatively agreed on a new local contract for workers at the automaker’s Kentucky truck factory, one of the company’s most important plants, staving off what would have been the second strike at the facility in months.
LOUISVILLE, KY-OCTOBER 27: The all-new 2018 Ford Expedition SUV goes through the assembly line at ... [+]
The UAW announced the tentative agreement Wednesday, touting a new contract the union says addresses its core concerns involving skilled trades, health and safety issues and ergonomics at the Kentucky facility.
Last week, the union set a Feb. 23 deadline for an agreement, with its nearly 9,000 workers threatening a strike if the deadline wasn’t met.
It would have been the second strike at the Kentucky factory in less than a year—in October, thousands walked off the job amid the UAW’s national negotiations with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which resulted in a new national contract with a 25% hourly wage increase over the course of the more than four-year term.
Still, union members across the country are still negotiating over local issues—UAW says there are 19 other open local agreements with Ford, and several others at GM and Stellantis.
Ford shares were down around 1% Wednesday just before noon.
In a statement to Forbes, Ford said it was “pleased to have reached a tentative agreement” with the union and touted new product launches out of Kentucky expected this year, including the new Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
$1.7 billion. That’s how much profit Ford lost last year due to the strikes, the automaker disclosed in November. The company also saw its sales cut by about 100,000 vehicles. The Kentucky plant manufactures Ford’s F-150 and other profitable truck models.
The UAW strike last fall marked the first time a union launched simultaneous labor action against the “Big Three” automakers based in Detroit. Last week, Ford CEO Jim Farley told the Wolfe Research Global Auto Conference the strike changed its relationship with the UAW, and suggested the company has “to think carefully about our (manufacturing) footprint” as it transitions to electric vehicles. UAW President Shawn Fain wrote on X the contract was “a major victory for working families across the country, and if Ford is upset about that, that tells you a lot about the leadership of this company.”