Ford EV Joint Venture Criticizes Union Election Push

As Ford Authority reported last November, a supermajority of workers at the future joint-venture Ford EV battery plant known as BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky signed union authorization cards and subsequently launched their campaign to join the United Auto Workers (UAW). A few weeks later, the Ford EV joint venture with South Korean battery maker SK On opted to raise its starting wages for future workers at the site, but earlier this week, workers officially filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board to join the UAW – a move that has drawn the ire of the joint-venture, it seems.

“The UAW is trying to rush BlueOval SK into unionization before our full workforce has the opportunity to make a truly free and informed choice,” a BlueOvalSK representative told Reuters, calling the move “premature” on the grounds that most of its workforce hasn’t even been hired yet, as thus far, 750 workers have been hired for BlueOvalSK Battery Park. Though the joint-venture is building two battery plants at the site, only one will be used at first – employing 2,500 people when it opens in Q1 2025, while the other will remain idle for now.

“We’re forming our union so we can have a say in our safety and our working conditions,” said Halee Hadfield, a quality operator at BlueOval SK Battery Park. “The chemicals we’re working with can be extremely dangerous. If something goes wrong, a massive explosion can occur. With our union, we can speak up if we see there’s a problem and make sure we’re keeping ourselves and the whole community safe.”

The next step in this process is hosting an election, though a majority of workers must still vote in favor of joining the UAW before it can become official. It’s a critical process for the union, which has thus far experienced mixed success after winning over workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, but also, suffering a defeat at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama last year.