UAW expands strike to include Ford plant in Kentucky

The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike against Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday evening, calling on 8,700 workers to stop working at a vital plant in Kentucky.

The plant offers some of Ford’s most profitable offerings, including the Super Duty version of its F-Series trucks and the Ford Expedition, a full-size sport utility vehicle.

The union and company appeared to have made progress toward a new contract in recent weeks. But in an afternoon bargaining session, UAW negotiators sought a sweet offer from the company and Ford refused.

Union president Sean Fine, who attended the meeting at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, then informed Ford that it was calling for an immediate strike at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, according to union and company officials.

“I just lost a Kentucky truck,” Mr. Fine said, and those officials said he and other UAW negotiators left the meeting just minutes after it began.

The UAW is organizing an escalating strike campaign against select plants of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis to press conditions it demands in contracts that replace those that expired last month.

The union is now on strike at three Ford plants. Others are in Lansing, Michigan, and Chicago.

The strike also led to the closure of plants in Missouri and Michigan owned by General Motors, and one in Ohio owned by Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram. UAW workers also stopped working at 38 GM and Stellantis parts warehouses across the country. Including workers at the Kentucky plant, approximately 34,000 of the 150,000 UAW members employed by the three companies are on strike.

Losing production on the Kentucky truck represents a major financial blow to Ford. It is the company’s largest factory in the world. In the first nine months of this year, it produced more than 300,000 cars. The stoppage will likely force Ford to halt production at a stamping plant at the same location.

Last year, Ford said it was investing $700 million in the Kentucky plant, a move that would create an additional 500 jobs.

“We were very clear, and we waited long enough, but Ford didn’t get the message,” Mr. Fine said in a statement. “It’s time for a fair contract at Ford and the rest of the Big Three. If they can’t understand that in four weeks, 8,700 workers are shutting down this highly profitable plant will help them understand.”

Ford said in a statement that it had made a “record offering” to the union that “will make a meaningful, positive difference in the quality of life” for the company’s 57,000 UAW members. She said expanding the strikes to include the Kentucky plant was “completely irresponsible” and had “serious consequences for our workforce, suppliers, dealers and business customers.”

The UAW demanded a significant wage increase from companies. Mr. Fine said Friday that Ford had offered raises of 23 percent over four years. GM and Stellantis offered about 21 percent.

Ford previously agreed to other provisions, such as allowing workers to move up to the top UAW wage in four years instead of eight, providing cost-of-living adjustments if inflation remains high, and giving the union the right to strike over plant closures.

The last time Ford made a major new offer to the union was on October 3, according to both sides.

UAW negotiators asked Ford for an in-person meeting on Wednesday, and negotiators gathered in a large boardroom, officials from both sides said. A company official said Ford was expecting to discuss matters such as union representation for workers at new battery plants that are still under construction and at least a year or more away from hiring employees.

Last week, in what he described as a major accomplishment, Mr. Fine said GM was now willing to include workers at its battery plants in the company’s national contract with the UAW.

At Wednesday’s session with Ford, Mr. Fine quickly asked whether the company had a new, comprehensive offer to put on the table — one with improved pay terms, according to a union official familiar with the matter. When Ford officials said they wouldn’t, Mr. Fine replied: “Is that all you got for us?” The official said the strike would extend to the Kentucky factory.