(New York) American automaker Ford on Thursday defended its latest offer to the UAW union in negotiations on the next collective agreement, saying that going beyond would put it in danger and deploring the extension of the strike to a large site.
The Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP) “is one of the largest factories in the world,” Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, a new model development arm, commented Thursday during an audio conference.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union surprised Wednesday evening by announcing an extension of the strike launched in mid-September at the three major manufacturers – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis – to an additional site: a Ford plant located in Louisville (Kentucky). ), where some 8,700 employees are affected by this strike call.
The work stoppage at KTP “was decreed after Ford refused to go further in negotiations,” the UAW justified Wednesday evening in a press release.
“This is a significant development in our negotiations,” lamented Mr. Galhotra, saying the group was negotiating “in good faith” and had made an “incredibly positive” offer that would put Ford staff among the top 25% of jobs. in the United States in terms of hourly wages and benefits.
“We have demonstrated that we want to achieve a record contract ensuring a solid future for our employees,” he said.
“But we have reached the limit, going further would endanger our ability to invest” for the future of the group, Mr. Galhotra repeated.
Normally, one vehicle leaves KTP’s assembly lines every 37 seconds. The plant manufactures industrial vans used by various trades (electrical, mining, firefighters, etc.) — including the best-selling one in the United States for 46 years — as well as high-end SUVs (Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition). .
KTP alone generates more turnover than the Marriott hotel group or the Southwest airline, noted Mr. Galhotra, affirming that more than 100,000 households could be indirectly affected.
The factory obtains its supplies from 600 external suppliers, not counting dealers and the entire surrounding economic and commercial fabric.
Four jobs at Ford create 11 jobs in the community, said Liz Door, procurement manager, citing a report from the Boston Consulting Group.
According to her, the strike which has been affecting a Ford assembly plant in Chicago (Michigan) for almost a month has led to the layoff of 13,000 people at around 90 of the site’s suppliers.
A source close to the negotiations said the average price of vehicles manufactured at KTP was around US$62,000, offering some of the highest margins in the group.
Ford managers “made it clear that this was an important factory”, which generates 25 billion in turnover for the group, she noted.
In the absence of an agreement when the collective agreements expired in mid-September, the UAW launched a targeted strike, adding sites when it considered that negotiations were bogged down or choosing the status quo in the event of progress.
Nearly 34,000 employees of the three manufacturers are now mobilized, out of their 146,000 employed at the UAW.
