Ford F-150 Plant Was Next UAW Target If Talks Broke Down

October 26, 2023 10:44 am

Already facing a targeted strike at three of its manufacturing plants in the U.S., Ford made considerable progress in talks with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in recent weeks, which prevented the union from expanding that action before the two sides reached a tentative agreement on a new contract last night. However, the same cannot be said for General Motors and Stellantis, both of which watched the UAW walk out of an additional plant earlier this week. However, according to the Detroit Free Press, it seems as if the UAW was prepared to strike at the Dearborn Truck plant – which builds the Ford F-150 – if The Blue Oval didn’t accept its latest terms.

The report notes that the UAW was prepared to walk out of the Ford F-150 plant yesterday if the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, which ultimately happened, preventing an expansion and effectively ending the strike altogether, pending approval of the tentative deal. UAW President Shawn Fain alluded to this in comments made during the recent announcement, too. “Ford knew what was coming for them on Wednesday if we didn’t get a deal. That was checkmate,” he said.

While the full details of this tentative deal have yet to be revealed, we do know that it includes a 25 percent pay increase over the length of the contract for UAW workers, which is a figure the union was reportedly targeting after initially seeking more than 40 percent. The deal will also see the lowest-paid temp workers receive raises of around 150 percent over the course of the contract, with top pay occurring after three years of employment, along with the reinstitution of cost-of-living raises, and the end of wage tiers at certain facilities.

The UAW National-Ford Council is set to review the terms of this tentative deal in the coming days, after which the council will vote on the proposed contract Sunday. If approved, the union will then present all of the details to members on Sunday night, and then host question and answer sessions with members ahead of their vote on the new deal.

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

By Brett Foote

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.