Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant crown jewel for UAW

The United Auto Workers stepped up its fight against Ford over the weekend.

"Unfortunately, we had to escalate our action. We came here today to get another offer from Ford, and they gave us the same exact offer as two weeks ago" the organization said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. 

On Friday, Ford noted that an additional 550 employees have been asked not to report to work beginning Oct. 16, bringing the total impact of the strike layoffs to approximately 2,480 employees due to the automaker's Kentucky, Chicago, and Michigan assembly plants all being shut down.

The initial decision to shut down Ford's Kentucky assembly plant last week proved the union is not afraid to inflict serious pain on Detroit automakers as its month-long strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis continues.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
F	FORD MOTOR CO.	10.73	-0.32	-2.90%
GM	GENERAL MOTORS CO.	54.87	-0.24	-0.44%
STLA	STELLANTIS NV	12.85	-0.20	-1.53%

The surprise move to add the Louisville-based facility as a strike target Wednesday means Ford's largest and most profitable operation is sitting idle, and the company will feel the blow quickly.

The Kentucky Truck Plant produces F-Series Super Duty trucks, Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators, generating $25 billion a year in revenue, which amounts to around one-sixth of the automaker's global automotive revenue.

For the month, Ford shares have fallen 5% compared to the S&P 500's 0.9% rise.

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In a note Thursday, Bank of America estimated the shutdown of the Kentucky facility alone will cost Ford $247 million each week in earnings before interest and taxes, according to Seeking Alpha. When accounting for the other Ford plants where operations are stalled, the analysts said, the strike will inflict a $430 million hit to the company each week.

For comparison, GM estimated its losses from the strike to be around $200 million total as of the third week into it. Ford and Stellantis have both declined to reveal their own estimates of how much the strike has cost their respective companies.

The UAW launched its simultaneous but limited strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis on Sept. 15, beginning with one plant at each manufacturer. The union has incrementally expanded the strike to other facilities and has so far shut down six assembly plants, three of which are Ford's, along with 38 parts depots owned by GM and Stellantis.

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Around 34,000 of the 150,000 union workers employed by the Big Three are currently off the job and on picket lines, and the UAW has threatened to extend the strike nationwide if contract negotiations drag on without sufficient progress being made in addressing the union's demands.

The UAW is asking for raises of 40% for members over the four-year contracts with the automakers, and the union's president, Shawn Fain, said Friday that Ford has increased its wage hike offer to 23% – higher than both GM and Stellantis.

The Bank of America analysis expressed concern over Ford being punished by the union, given that the company has made greater concessions than the other two automakers.

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"It is possible, however, that since Ford has been the most accommodating, the UAW might believe it can obtain additional concessions by increasing the pressure," the note reads. "Recall also that this UAW action comes right after the threat of a strike at GM’s Arlington plant (somewhat comparable in terms of importance) and the Unifor strike of GM in Canada, which have both resulted in immediate concessions."

Reuters contributed to this report.