Ford is gearing up for its white-collar salaried employees to walk off amid United Auto Workers, UAW, strike concerns next month, according to initial reporting from The Detroit Free Press.
If operations shut down, the automaker reported that it’s holding meetings with salaried engineers to coordinate filling in at the warehouse and operating forklifts to assure dealerships and customers that they will be able to obtain parts.
An unnamed Ford manager states, “We are working hard to establish a new agreement. But we need to prepare for the possibility of a UAW strike, just like we do for any scenario where customer service may be disrupted; our customers and dealers depend on us to ship parts to keep Ford vehicles on the road.”
First responders’ ability to respond to crises, utility vehicles’ ability to respond to power outages, customers making it to work, and customers being able to get healthcare depends on the continuous operation of our Ford customer service depots. Giving people the freedom to migrate is our primary goal for the business. In the event of a strike, we’re preparing to fulfill dealer part requests.
In a statement, Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch said, “We have a responsibility to our customers and dealers to ship the parts that keep Ford vehicles on the road – especially to keep first responders and other essential services running.”
Repeatedly, the UAW has threatened roughly 150,000 members at Ford, GM, and Stellantis. If a deal is not met by the September 14th deadline, the labor union said votes on strike authorizations would occur next week.
