Ford has reached a tentative agreement with United Auto Workers (UAW) members at its Kentucky Truck Plant, narrowly avoiding the deadline to prevent another labor strike.
Earlier this week, the UAW announced it would stage a strike at the factory if the automaker failed to produce a now five-month overdue contract before early morning Friday, February 23. This morning, local union officials confirmed the deal had been arranged, with less than two days to spare.
Although a strike is no longer set to occur this week, the facility’s 9,000 employees still need to hold a ratification vote to approve the tentative agreement. UAW members will cast their votes from February 28 through March 1.
At the center of the prolonged negotiations between Ford and the local UAW group are issues relating to employee safety and healthcare. Among other items, union officials have requested that the automaker set “minimum in-plant nurse staffing levels.” The factory is the company’s largest in terms of workforce and was previously shut down during the six-week auto workers strike against the Detroit-Three in late 2023.
The tentative agreement comes just one week after Ford CEO Jim Farley suggested the brand was re-evaluating its partnership with the UAW in the wake of last year’s strike. “[The strike] was an extremely difficult moment for the company,” he remarked, speaking to attendees of the Wolfe Research Global Auto and Auto Tech Conference. Noting Ford was the only automaker to continue manufacturing pickups in the U.S., Farley continued: “We were the first truck plant they shut down…Clearly, our relationship has changed.”
