LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UAW President Shawn Fain's weekly strike update on Friday focused heavily on Ford and what led to Kentucky Truck Plant workers walking off the job.
All 8,700 workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant, located in east Louisville, joined the nationwide strike against the Big Three automakers at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The move caught many off-guard, mostly because Fain had been sticking to Fridays when announcing further actions.
That will be changing going forward.
"We're entering a new phase of this fight and it warrants a new approach," Fain said. "We are prepared at any time to call on more locals to stand up and walk out."
Fain outlined the events that led to his decision earlier this week to strike KTP.
He said for two weeks, Ford told the union there was "more money to be had." The company owed the UAW a new offer by Wednesday, according to Fain, but instead gave Fain a phone call.
"They wanted to meet over Zoom and pass the same offer they passed two weeks ago with no more money," Fain said. "I said, 'If you offer us nothing, you'll do it to our face.'"
Fain traveled to Ford's corporate headquarters near Detroit and said the company made the same offer.
"I said, 'Our members' lives and my handshake are worth more than that. You just cost yourselves Kentucky Truck Plant.'"
In a statement from the automaker Wednesday, a spokesperson called the strike "grossly irresponsible but unsurprising given the union leadership’s stated strategy."
They said the company has been bargaining in good faith this week on the joint venture battery plants "which are slated to begin production in the coming year."
Fain responded to the company's statement Friday.
"They admitted KTP generates $25 billion a year," he said. "It generates more revenue each minute than thousands of our members make in a year.
"We're not messing around. A negotiation requires both sides making movement. If they're not ready to move, we'll give them a push in a way they understand: in dollars and cents."
Fain said additional strikes against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis could be announced at any time and told workers to stay ready.
KTP is Ford's largest plant in the world in terms of workforce, and one of the largest automobile plants on the planet. The products manufactured there – the F-Series Super Duty, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator – account for about $25 billion in annual revenue.
The strike at KTP, Ford's most profitable plant, will cost the company $150 million a week in profit, according to Wells Fargo analysts.
There are 13 plants interconnected with KTP. Facilities as far away as Buffalo and Chicago feed KTP, which then feeds Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant and the Ohio Assembly Plant near Cleveland.
UAW Local 862 President Todd Dunn said LAP workers could be laid off as soon as Friday.
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