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 SK On opted to raise its starting wages for future workers at the site, too. Now, workers at the under-construction plant have taken the next step in regard to unionizing.
According to The Detroit Free Press, workers at the joint-venture Ford EV plant in Kentucky have officially filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board to join the UAW, a move they say is due to concerns revolving around worker health, safety, and a lack of communication from the company itself. Workers are also hopeful that joining the union will result in better pay, enhanced benefits, and additional protections pertaining to worker safety. 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.
“I just hope that the company takes us serious, steps up to the plate, fixes these health and safety concerns, and actually puts a value on employees,” said Chad Johnson, a quality control worker at the BlueOval SK Battery Park who has worked there for nearly a year and a half. “We want something in black and white that’s legally binding between these two mutual parties, so that we all know where we’re at … there’s not all this gray area.”
As Ford Authority previously reported, production at BlueOval SK Battery Park is now slated to begin in Q1 of next year, which is a few months earlier than previously expected. Though the joint-venture is building two battery plants at the site, only one will be used – employing 2,500 people when it opens, while the other will remain idle for now. A few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Energy finalized a $9.63 billion loan for the BlueOval SK joint venture – the largest ever to be distributed from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program.
Comment
Stop using unions, all they provide is added cost to goods and services. In the US we have well established labor laws and no longer need unions to ‘protect workers.’ Union workers are no more skilled than non union….non union labors don’t threaten strikes to get their way either.