OEMs

UAW, Ford reach tentative pact, avert strike at Kentucky Truck Plant

February 21, 2024

A United Auto Workers (UAW) local has reached a tentative agreement with Ford, avoiding a strike at the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP).

UAW 862 employees at the Louisville, Ky., facility had threatened labor action “over local issues related to skilled trades, health and safety, and ergonomics,” the union said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The tentative deal addresses these and other core issues of concern to KTP autoworkers,” UAW added.

Still, there are “dozens of remaining open local agreements across the Big Three automakers, while the national contracts were ratified this fall after the union’s Stand Up Strike,” according to the union.

“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with UAW Local 862 covering Kentucky Truck Plant and 8,700 valued UAW-Ford employees,” a spokesperson for Ford said in a statement sent to SMU. “Ford is the No. 1 employer of UAW-represented autoworkers and 2024 is one of our biggest-ever new product launch years in the US.”

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.