With Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) at an impasse in contract negotiations amid a month-long strike, the union has thus far walked out of the Michigan Assembly plant, the Chicago Assembly plant, and the Kentucky Truck plant, with the latter closure taking the automaker by surprise last week, though the union opted not to take further action Friday. However, in addition to those three facilities, more than a dozen other Ford plants are also currently impacted by the strike, prompting the automaker to lay off nearly 2,500 workers in the weeks since it began. Regardless, that impact seems destined to continue to grow and possibly include the Windsor Engine plant in Canada as well, according to Automotive News Canada.
“What the impact will be, I really don’t know yet, but in time, it will absolutely impact us,” said Unifor Local 200 President John D’Agnolo, who represents about 900 hourly workers at the Windsor plant. “I do stand in solidarity with the UAW. They’ve got a tough road ahead of them and I hope they can get it resolved with the Detroit Three.”
Currently, the Windsor Engine plant produces the Ford 6.8L V8 and 7.3L V8 Godzilla powerplants, which are offered in Ford Super Duty pickups produced at the on-strike Kentucky plant. For now, it’s unclear what sort of ripple effects the Windsor plant might experience because of this strike, but D’Agnolo noted that it could disrupt operations within the week.
D’Agnolo stated that workers at the Windsor plant will likely continue to work until the plant’s capacity is reached, though that depends on how much storage space and empty engine racks are available, which is currently unclear.
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