‘We’ve reached our limit’: Ford leaders discuss impact of Kentucky Truck Plant strike

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – As UAW workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant took to the picket lines for the second day on strike, Ford leaders held a conference call with reporters to discuss the impact of the worker stoppage at its largest plant.

The plant accounts for 16% of Ford’s global revenue and produces some of the company’s most profitable vehicles, which generate $25 billion in yearly revenue.

In addition, Ford said it employs more than 12,000 people in Kentucky and supports a state GDP contribution of nearly $12 billion.

During the conference Thursday, Ford leaders said the two points still up for negotiation are pension plans and a deal on future joint venture electric vehicle battery plants.

While the company is still working to come to an agreement, the president of Blue Ford said that when it comes to the overall cost of the deal, they’ve reached their limit.

“When I say we’re working to get this done, we’re open to moving some money around within the deal that might fit the union’s needs better,” Blue Ford President Kumar Galhotra said. “But broadly speaking, from an overall cost of the deal perspective, yes we’re there.

The company said the two points still left up for negotiation are pension plans and a deal on future joint venture electric vehicle battery plants.

Tim Smith, the director of UAW Region 8, said those points are crucial. In particular, he said a deal on battery plants is critical to make sure their members have options in the future.

“That EV plant down the road is huge, you’re talking anywhere from 4 to 6,000 jobs, SK and Ford, and we want that plant therefore under the master,” Smith said. “Therefore, if our brothers and sisters need to transfer they have the ability to do that.”

The company warned that many layoffs could be coming in the next few weeks from connecting plants and suppliers. Ford said the strike will put about a dozen additional Ford operations at risk, as well as many supplier operations that together employ well over 100,000 people.

“There are 13 facilities that are either upstream or downstream of Kentucky Truck,” Americas Manufacturing and Labor Affairs Vice President Bryce Currie said. “We anticipate that at nine of those plants in the coming weeks, we’ll have as many as 4,600 people affected by the strike.

Ford also touched on the impact the strike has on striking employees. The company claims many workers are going from earning an average of $1,500 a week to now $500 a week in strike pay. However, workers on the picket lines say this is what it takes to be able to fight for what they want. Smith said workers are ready to continue striking until their demands are met.

“They have made millions and billions of dollars since 2009,” Smith said. “We are only trying to get back what we gave up in 2009 and more because of inflation. The fact that they’ve made millions and millions of dollars, we want our fair share.”

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