UAW Workers Strike Ford, Stellantis Plants; Layoffs Follow

Today, 6,800 UAW members went on strike at Stellantis' Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan, which produces the Ram 1500 full-size pickup. According to the United Auto Workers, over 40,000 union members are now on strike as we enter the sixth week of walkouts.

In further fallout, Stellantis has also cited strikes as the reason for bowing out of the LA Auto Show and Specialty Equipment Market Association show (SEMA) as part of its “strike contingency plan,” according to Automotive News. The group had planned to debut the North American-market Fiat 500e at the auto show, and Mopar, the brand’s parts and accessories arm, had teased several announcements for the SEMA show.

Earlier this month, the UAW announced an expansion of its strike against Ford, affecting the Kentucky Truck Plant that produces the Ford Super Duty line of heavy-duty trucks, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. The UAW called on 8,700 union members to strike at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant on October 11, a result, it said, of Ford coming “to the table with the same offer they submitted to us two weeks ago.” The union called this an “unacceptable move” deserving of an “immediate response.”

The Kentucky Truck Plant is vital to Ford, as one of the automaker's most profitable and largest in terms of worker count; Ford employed roughly 9,251 employees at the plant as of September 2023. For the UAW, it is also the first time since strikes began that President Shawn Fain did not announce the location of the strike before it commenced. CNBC’s source inside the UAW confirmed that Ford returned to the table with no modifications to its proposal, and that the UAW was expecting more cash on the table before negotiations began.

In the days following the strike in Kentucky, Ford announced another round of layoffs, citing the overall strike as its reason for sending home 150 Michigan-based employees, per Reuters. In total, some 2,730 Ford workers are now furloughed.