LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is expanding its strike on the Big Three automakers, adding 7,000 workers at a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors assembly factory near Lansing, Michigan.
Still, Louisville's Ford plants remain unaffected by the strike, with union president Shawn Fain not calling on either of the Metro's plants to "stand up."
During a Friday news conference, Fain made it clear the expansion is not because negotiations between the companies have broken down. Instead, he said the UAW is not seeing the progress they hoped for.
"Sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table," he said. "That's why at noon today we're expanding our strike against these two companies."
The union decided last minute not to increase the strike against Stellantis because Fain said the automaker made some sort of progress right before the news conference.
The UAW is currently asking for a 36% raise in general pay over four years among other benefit demands. The automakers' last known wage offers were around 20% over the life of a four-year contract, a little more than half of what the union has demanded.
Ford CEO: 'A deal could have been made.'
Ford CEO Jim Farley held his own news conference Friday, responding to the union's expansion of strikes at Ford. He believes a deal could have been made already.
"What's really frustrating is that I believe we could have reached a compromise on paying benefits," Farley said. "But so far, the UAW is holding the deal hostage over battery plants. Keep in mind, these battery plants don't exist yet. They're mostly joint ventures. They've not been organized by the UAW yet because the workers haven't been hired and won't be for many years to come."
The battery plants he's talking about include Kentucky's Blue Oval SK Battery Park, which is currently being built in Hardin County.
Although he didn't go into specifics about what the UAW is asking for regarding battery plants, Farley said the discussions are being had.
"We're trying to make an agreement where we can be competitive jointly, the union would like to have that from the Master Agreement standpoint," he said. "We have to be competitive across all the areas in the U.S. and so that's where we're working with them."
On Monday, Ford paused construction of their battery plant in Marshall, Michigan. For now, construction continues at the battery plant in Hardin County.
Some industry executives, including Farley, say it will take up to 40% fewer workers to make EVs because they have fewer moving parts. So the union is looking to organize battery plants and win top wages so displaced workers have somewhere to go, especially those making combustion engines and transmissions.
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