Last night, the United Auto Workers’ president Shawn Fain called on the union’s members to walk out of the Michigan Assembly Plant, as well as a Stellantis assembly complex in Ohio and a GM plant in Missouri. In addition to Bronco, the Ford Ranger, Jeep Wrangler, Jeep 4xe EV, Jeep Gladiator, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, and more are affected. Contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
AP News: Workers strike at all 3 Detroit automakers in a battle for a bigger share of industry profits
The strike will impact Bronco build dates and production. Orders may be delayed significantly. Model year production for 2023 Broncos was intended to continue into December, but plans for it and 2024 production may be affected immensely depending on the duration of the strike.
Ford Motor Company has published several statements on the negotiations. Wednesday, president and CEO Jim Farley expressed his concern on the industry’s future and appealed for parties to avoid a “disastrous outcome.”
“The Ford team continues to put 100% of our energy into reaching an agreement with the UAW that rewards our valued employees and allows the company to invest in the future. If there is a strike, it’s not because Ford didn’t make a great offer. We have and that’s what we can control.”
Yesterday, Ford released another statement:
“At 8 p.m. this evening at Solidarity House in Detroit, the United Auto Workers presented its first substantive counterproposal to Ford a few hours from the expiration of the current four-year collective bargain agreement.
On the key economic issues that matter most to our UAW-represented employees, Ford has submitted four proposals to the UAW since Aug. 29. The last offer Ford submitted was historically generous, with large wage increases, cost of living adjustments, more paid time off, additional retirement contributions and more.
Unfortunately, the UAW’s counterproposal tonight showed little movement from the union’s initial demands submitted Aug. 3. If implemented, the proposal would more than double Ford’s current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor.
The union made clear that unless we agreed to its unsustainable terms, it plans a work stoppage at 11:59 p.m. eastern. Ford has bargained in good faith in an effort to avoid a strike, which could have wide-ranging consequences for our business and the economy. It also impacts the very 57,000 UAW-Ford workers we are trying to reward with this contract. Our hourly employees would take home nearly 60% less on average with UAW strike pay than they would from working. And without vehicles in production, the profit-sharing checks that UAW workers could expect to receive early next year will also be decimated by a significant strike.
Ford remains absolutely committed to reaching an agreement that rewards our employees and protects Ford’s ability to invest in the future as we move through industry-wide transformation.”
Reports on the Michigan Assembly Plant strike say as of Friday morning, assembly and paint shop members have been called to stop work.
Additional releases from Ford on the negotiations and more can be found on at.ford.com. Further discussion is happening n the Bronco forums: UAW strike! Bronco production impacted.
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