Auto Workers Escalate Strike As 8,700 Walk Out Of Largest Ford Factory
By Bill Galluccio
October 12, 2023
The auto workers strike grew even larger on Wednesday (October 11) night when 8,700 employees at Ford Motor Company's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville walked off the job.
That brings the total number of auto workers on strike against the Big Three automakers, Ford, GM, and Stellantis, to about 34,000.
"We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a press release announcing the strike action. "It's time for a fair contract at Ford and the rest of the Big Three. If they can't understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it."
The Kentucky Truck Plant produces Ford Super Duty pickups, Ford Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators. It is the Ford's largest plant in terms of employment and revenue.
On Thursday, Fain suggested that the union could expand the strike to more Stelanntis factories if negotiations don't go in their favor.
"Here's to hoping talks at Stellantis today are more productive than Ford yesterday," Fain wrote on X.