Ford Motor Company Executive Chair Bill Ford gave a presentation at the Rouge Visitor Center in Dearborn, Michigan, on Monday where he pressed the United Auto Workers union to accept the automaker’s deal. It was a response to the speech from UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday, October 13, that included complaints about the Blue Oval’s proposal.
“I call on my great UAW colleagues, some of whom I’ve known for decades,” Ford said. “Many are close personal friends. We need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks.”
Ford specifically referenced the UAW expanding the strike to the Kentucky Truck Plant on Thursday, October 12. “Shutting down that plant harms tens of thousands of Americans right away, workers, suppliers, and dealers alike,” Ford said. “It hurts the communities that depend on these local economies.”
Ford spoke about the company creating thousands beyond what was required by the earlier UAW agreement. He said the automaker offered “a record contract” and claimed the deal would make them “the best paid manufacturing workers in the world.”
UAW boss Fain said during his presentation that Ford came to the union with the same offer as two weeks ago. The labor organization found this unacceptable and rejected the offer. It also prompted the UAW to expand the strike to the Kentucky Truck Plant.
The Kentucky plant is Ford’s largest factory and generates $25 million a year in revenue. It builds the F-Series Super Duty, Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator and employs 8,700 UAW members.
“Jim Farley took in 21 million last year,” Fain said in his speech. “We need him to do two things right now: Look in the mirror and look in Ford’s bank account. Go get the big checkbook, the one Ford uses when it wants to spend millions on company executives or on Wall Street giveaways.”
For comparison, Bill Ford made $17.3 million in 2022 and $18.7 million in 2021, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Fain said that the union would be more aggressive in the future by providing very short notice before expanding the strike to additional factories. He indicated these announcements could come “at any time.”
