Ford Calls Honda, Toyota, Tesla, And China The Enemies In UAW Strike

Oct. 17, 2023 7:53 AM ET byJared Rosenholtz Industry News /29 Comments

Bill Ford has begged the UAW to stop making enemies out of companies that support US production.

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford broke his silence regarding the ongoing United Auto Works Union (UAW) on Monday at Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant and Rouge EV Center, the home of the Ford F-150 andF-150 Lightning.

Ford urged the UAW to stop considering it and fellow Big Three members GM and Stellantis as the enemy in this strike sinceforeign automakers stand to gainfrom the situation. "This should not be Ford vs the UAW. It should be Ford and the UAW vs Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese automakers that want to enter our home market. The longer it goes on, the better it will be for them," he said. If the strike goes on longer, "all of them will win, and all of us will lose. America loses, and many jobs will be lost."

The UAW recently called for 8,700workers to walk off the assembly lineat Ford's Kentucky Plant, which builds the Expedition, Super Duty, and Lincoln Navigator. Ford warned this walkout would have huge ramifications beyond those three vehicles.

"Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW's targeted strike strategy has knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage," Ford explained. "In this case, the strike at Kentucky Truck Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant has directly impacted operations at several other facilities."

In his appeal to the UAW, Ford even tried to leverage the current war in the middle east, speaking of how the automotive industry in America has been pivotal in supporting the nation through previous wars and even the pandemic. He claims that once a country's auto industry goes bust, the rest of its manufacturing soon follows.

Ford went on to tout that he has been "the most pro-union leader in the industry," being part of every negotiation since 1982. He also commented on Ford's commitment to employing more union members than any other automaker, assembling more vehicles in the US, and adding more jobs in the US.

"We've offered a record contract that would make our UAW employees some of the best-paid manufacturing workers in the world," Ford said, referencing a deal that would increase salaries by 23% over the next four years, offer inflation-based adjustments, and cut the time it takes for new workers to earn the top wage.

That offer was rejected by UAW President Shawn Fain, who called for the walkout in Kentucky shortly after. "Our members' lives, and my handshake, are worth more than that. You just cost yourself Kentucky Truck Plant," Fain said during a Facebook livestream. "Pony up."

在应对罢工d and otherautomakers have issued hundreds of temporary layoffs. As of today, more than 550 Ford workers were told not to report to the Kentucky and Chicago plants due to the UAW strike.CarBuzzhas reached out to the UAW for comment on the latest statement from Bill Ford and will update this article accordingly.