Ford Averts Strike at Kansas City F-150 Plant

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

A late-night deal reached between Ford and Kansas City, Missouri auto workers averted a strike over the weekend.

United Auto Workers Vice President Jimmy Settles in a letter to workers said negotiators reached an agreement late Friday night.

As you know, earlier this week, I gave Ford Motor Company 120-hour notice of our intention to strike at the Kansas City facility if a tentative agreement for their local contract could not be reached. Thankfully, with this evenings (sic) announcement, that action has been averted.

The UAW hasn’t yet announced if it will shift its focus to negotiations with Ford after a majority of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles union workers rejected their proposed deal with the automaker.

UAW president Dennis Williams issued a letter Monday to workers that it would take back to FCA issues regarding the proposed health care co-op and urged hourly workers to ignore “outside” agitators, according to Automotive News.

Finally, outside groups like to stir people up. You, our members need to make decisions based on what’s best for you and your families. No one else has to pay the price of a strike. No one else will lose a paycheck or a home.


Aaron Cole
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  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Oct 05, 2015

    Finally, outside groups like to stir people up. You, our members need to make decisions based on what’s best for you and your families. No one else has to pay the price of a strike. No one else will lose a paycheck or a home. Looks like the anti-union B&B has been put on notice. LOL

  • 50merc 50merc on Oct 05, 2015

    "Lose a paycheck or a home"? Oh, come on. There's unemployment comp, strike pay, and even temp jobs for those who like to keep busy. And it's routine to hand out bonuses to get contracts approved. Ford, et al, is not Harlan County, KY in 1930. By using selective strikes at critical plants (Ford makes most of its profit from the F-150) the UAW has life or death power over the company. The only real threats to union power are vehicle sales lost to other companies and plant closings. Remember how nice it was back when Detroit had 99% of the market, when the UAW had twice as many working members?

    • AJ AJ on Oct 05, 2015

      My threat is that my Jeep is my last UAW built vehicle.

  • Big Al from Oz Big Al from Oz on Oct 06, 2015

    We must remember that the aluminium F-150 has thousands more workers employed to put them together. Also, September's numbers are a couple thousand down from August. I do know some will want to debate number of days, seasonal adjustements, etc, but the fact remain is if the aluminium F-150 was in such high demand then we still would witness growth in monthly numbers. This isn't occurring, the numbers went backwards. Bloomberg had an article this week with comments from Ford management. Apparently there are 90 000 aluminium F-150s in Ford's inventory. I do recall that Ford estimated it only required 90 000 steel F-150's in it's inventory to manage the changeover from steel to aluminium. I would assume there will be some great deals on aluminium F-150s soon.

    • DenverMike DenverMike on Oct 06, 2015

      Same sales as last month, one less day. And that's F-series. F-150 sales increased for all we know. But either way, 90,000 F-150s isn't much for 4,000+ dealers. Barely 22 F-150s per. That's not even one of every combination of engines, cabs, beds, trim, rwd or 4X4. Forget about having choice of colors, options or packages . And GM and Ram had an equally OK September. So what? Why such a hardon for the F-150? Or is it ALCOA??

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