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Ford Lays Off 600 Workers At Michigan Assembly Plant

Last week – following weeks of failed negotiations – the United Auto Workers (UAW) union began a targeted strike at one facility owned and operated by each of the Detroit Big Three automakers. For the Blue Oval, that location is the Michigan Assembly plant, which builds the Ford Bronco and Ford Ranger and employs around 3,300 people. The two sides remain far apart in negotiations, with FoMoCo claiming that the UAW’s most recent offer is “unsustainable” and could even – according to CEO Jim Farley – bankrupt the company, though President Joe Biden intervened and suggested that automakers need to share profits with their workers. Now, with no middle ground seemingly in sight, Ford has decided to lay off 600 workers at the Michigan Assembly plant, according to Automotive News.

These layoffs impact workers in the body construction portion of the plant, as well as the south sub-assembly area of the integrated stamping operation. According to the automaker, this move comes as a direct result of the UAW strike, even for operations that aren’t exactly directly connected to the union’s actions.

“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy will have knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage,” a Ford spokesperson said in a statement. “In this case, the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments has directly impacted the operations in other parts of the facility. This is not a lockout. This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments, because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection. E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike.”

At this point, it’s entirely unclear how long the strike might last. Ford’s most recent proposal to the union offered it a 20 percent pay increase, which is still pretty far off from the UAW’s recently-lowered ask of 36 percent. Otherwise, FoMoCo has seemingly met most of the union’s demands, including the return of cost of living increases, the end of tiered pay systems, pensions for new hires, and increased pensions for retirees – but not the union’s request for a four-day, 32-hour full time work week.

We’ll have more on the UAW strike soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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Comments

  1. I don’t have a dog in the fight, but I find the union’s tactics interesting. So, they call a strike at one location that forces Ford to lay off people at another location. I don’t know Michigan law, but I assume those layed off workers can collect unemployment, which exceeds the $500/week strike pay they would get under a strike. So they get more money getting layed off than if they strike. Of course, the risk is that they have no guarantee of getting their job back but that could be another union demand for the new contract…all layed off employees get their job back. So, essentially, taxpayers pay for these collateral “strikers.” Interesting.

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    1. Max pay is $362.00 for unemployment in Michigan.

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      1. Good to know. Thanks for the information. While it isn’t as much as strike pay, it will allow the union to extend the strike longer if needed. I think I read they could pay everyone for 11 weeks but, with these tactics, they can drag out the strike for many, many months.

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  2. Laid off workers will get Unemployment.

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  3. Fire them all and close shop for a year to get rid of the over-priced crap now sitting on the dealer lots. That’s where this is headed anyway.

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    1. It wasn’t cost of labor that drove prices up! It was in part supply chain, but primarily corporate GREED to keep shareholders happy. All this Covid era stuff didn’t hurt Ford profits!

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  4. these union people are just so pathetic and greedy. I work in a federal job in mechanic type capacity in a high cost democrat state and our pay is not nearly what these UAW workers are making in Ohio, Michigan, etc. It seems the auto companies should give raises to cover the rate of inflation. ie: if we had 9% inflation, they should be entitled to a 9% wage increase, and not a cent more. Its absurd to tie the worker pay to the companies profits. the company is getting penalized for being successful. the pay rate should be based on market conditions and what similar manufacturers in the area, to include appliances etc, are paying their factory workers. for example what is Whirlpool paying their factory workers? But in my job, after biden and the dems caused 9% inflation one year and about 4% the next year, we got a 4.5% raise. After inflation, we are losing money. but most of us are just thankful we have a job. these stupid union workers are greedy and lazy by asking for absurd increases. From now on, I will only buy American cars if they are built at non union plants.

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    1. Yet you have benefits NO ONE in a private sector enjoys! Unions MADE the American Middle Class. Government workers FEED OFF od the middle class taxpayers!

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      1. Who do you think all of these government entities by their vehicles from that in part pay UAW wages.

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    2. Retired city mechanic of a democrat run city and state here, I feel ya.

      Reply

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