Workers At Ford Supplier Flex-N-Gate Vote To Join UAW

Last fall, Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) reached an agreement on a new master contract, effectively ending a six week-long targeted strike by the union and leading to agreements with General Motors and Stellantis, too. However, the UAW hasn’t exactly rested on its laurels since then, and aside from targeting other automakers with plants in the U.S., it’s also seeking to organize more and more automotive suppliers as well. Many of those companies are Ford suppliers, and now, we have yet another one to add to this list.

The latest Ford supplier that has decided to join the UAW is Flex-N-Gate, as among the 370 workers at the company’s Chicago facility, 195 voted in favor of organizing, with 29 challenged ballots in the mix. Flex-N-Gate is a major parts supplier for the Ford Chicago Assembly plant, which builds the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. “It’s a brand-new day at Flex-N-Gate. We have won our union and we have won respect,” the UAW organization committee said in a statement. “Already, we have a powerful voice at our plant, and now we’ll begin working to win the fair pay, the good benefits and the time off with our families that every worker deserves.”

Flex-N-Gate joins a handful of other Ford suppliers that have voted to join the UAW recently, which includes Antolin Interiors USA in Howell, Michigan, while its own Canadian counterpart is also part of that country’s own union, Unifor. Workers at one Webasto plant – which builds tops for the Ford Bronco – also voted to join the UAW, though another did not. However, the UAW is also accusing the company of engaging in “union busting” activities to prevent workers from doing so.

Just this past summer, another Ford supplier – Dakkota Integrated Systems – also threatened to go on strike after rejecting the company’s contract offer. That outfit operates four facilities near the Ford Kentucky Truck plant and “sequences” parts for that facility, a process that involves organizing and delivering components so that Blue Oval workers can install them quickly.