Ford Workers At Lima Engine Plant Ratify UAW Contract

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike began at the Ford Michigan Assembly plant back in mid-September, after which it expanded to include the Chicago Assembly plant and Kentucky Assembly plant. However, Ford later reached a tentative deal with the union that includes a massive product investment from the automaker, and a few days later, its Detroit Big Three counterparts, General Motors and Stellantis, followed suit. Regardless, UAW members must still vote to ratify the tentative deal before it can officially take effect, and thus far, that process had been going rather well, with multiple plants doing precisely that. That process seemingly hit a bit of a snag earlier this week after UAW workers at the Kentucky Truck plant and Louisville Assembly plant rejected the proposed contract, but that wasn’t the case at the Lima Engine plant, at least.

Rather, workers at the Lima Engine plant voted in favor of the proposed contract, according to the UAW Local 1219. There, 63 percent of production workers approved the tentative deal, along with 46.4 percent of skilled trades workers, officially ratifying the deal with a total of 60 percent voting yes and 40 percent voting no.

Only 45 percent of production workers at the Kentucky plant voted in favor of the tentative contract, along with 69 percent of skilled trades workers. This is the first time the majority vote didn’t favor the proposed deal, as the Michigan Assembly plant, Buffalo Stamping plant, Chicago Assembly plant, the Flat Rock Assembly plant, and Kansas City Assembly plant all voted in favor of the contract by a large margin.

At Flat Rock, a total of 66.2 percent of production workers voted in favor of the tentative contract, along with 78.3 percent of skilled trades workers. In Chicago, 55 percent of production workers voted in favor of the tentative agreement, along with 73 percent of skilled trades workers, compared to 62.9 percent of all UAW workers at the Kansas City plant, 78 percent of production workers and 80 percent of skilled trades workers at the Buffalo Stamping plant, and 81 percent of production workers and 90 percent of skilled trades workers at MAP.

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