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UAW Committee Still Mulling Next Move, Ford Strike Averted

October 4, 2015

UAW negotiations with the Big Three automakers are on hold while the bargaining committee figures out its next move. The union announced on Thursday that the tentative agreement between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler was voted down by a 65 percent majority of the 40,000 workers at FCA. Although no directives have been issued, local unions are preparing for the possibility of a strike.

A strike was averted at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant after a tentative agreement was reached with that plant on Friday evening.

UAW-Ford Department Vice President Jimmy Settles had issued a 5-day strike notice on Tuesday that would have gone into effect at 1 pm on Sunday.

Settles said in a statement late Friday, “I would like to extend my sincerest appreciate to Chairman Todd Hillyard and the local bargaining committee, along with representatives from the UAW National Ford Department, for working diligently to reach a deal that meets the needs of the Local 239 KCAP Membership.”

On Saturday, Ford issued a statement saying, “Working with our UAW partners, we have resolved the open items at Kansas City Assembly Plant and have agreed to a tentative local agreement. Plant operations will continue as scheduled.

“I think we have reached an agreement that our members will be proud of,” Hillyard said in a statement on Facebook.

The Kansas City Assembly plant produces the aluminum bodied F-150. The plant was shutdown during the transition to the new platform and is now back to near-normal inventory levels.