UAW Ford Workers At Kentucky Truck May Strike Next Week

During the six-week-long United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against Ford last year, the union somewhat surprised the automaker by walking out of the Kentucky Truck plant – which builds the Ford Super Duty, Ford Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator – shortly after announcing that it wouldn’t expand its strike at that time. Both sides reached a tentative agreement on a new master contract shortly thereafter, which was promptly ratified by UAW workers, but now, it seems as if the Kentucky Truck plant is facing another possible strike, according to the union.

According to the UAW, around 9,000 workers at the Kentucky Truck plant plan to strike on February 23^rd, 2024, if some local contract issues aren’t resolved between now and then. These concerns pertain to the UAW Local 862, with which the automaker hasn’t reached an agreement as of yet, roughly five months after the union’s broader strike ended. As such, UAW Vice President Chuck Browning has requested authorization from UAW President Fain to set a strike deadline.

There are a few key points that remain concerning among UAW members at the Kentucky plant, including health and safety-related matters, minimum in-plant nurse staffing levels, and ergonomic issues, to name just a few. The UAW Local 862 has the ability to walk out even though the union already reached an agreement with Ford, as members are able to negotiate local agreements around plant-specific issues at each facility.

This is notable given the fact that UAW workers at the Kentucky Truck plant voted against that aforementioned agreement – along with a few other facilities – back in mid-November, as 45 percent of production workers voted in favor of the tentative contract, along with 69 percent of skilled trades workers. Just yesterday, Ford CEO Jim Farley also specifically mentioned the UAW’s strike at Kentucky as one of the main driving forces behind the automaker reconsidering where it builds future models as well.

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