On October 17, the United Auto Workers’ strike passed its thirty-third day. There are three new points that should be focused on. They are the decision to strike Kentucky Truck, Bill Ford’s attempt to do an end-run around the union leadership, and the mounting repercussions of the strike.
Kentucky Truck
On Wednesday, October 11, the UAW met with Ford for another collective bargaining session. Ford did not improve their offer from the past session. UAW President Shawn Fain made a dramatic response. His reply was clear and to the point, “You just lost Kentucky Truck”. This means that the union was now going to extend the strike to the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.
This represents a major step in the escalating strike strategy. The plant is huge with 8,700 union members working there. These workers make the Ford Super Duty pickup trucks , the Lincoln Navigator, and the Ford Expedition large SUVs. It is Ford’s most profitable plant. It makes $25 billion a year, which is one-sixth of Ford’s worldwide automotive profits. This strike brings the total number of strikers up to 34,000 at forty-four work places.
The timing of the strike decision is also significant. All previous strikes have been announced on Fain’s regular Friday morning broadcast. The Kentucky strike was called on Wednesday evening. Now, more strikes can be called at time at all. This prevents the companies waiting until Friday morning to present new offers. There’s speculation that the GM Assembly Plant in Arlington, Texas, may be the next target.
Bill Ford’s intervention
Bill Ford is the Executive Chair of Ford and the scion of the famous family. On Monday, October 16 he made a most unusual address. It was a ten minute live streamed speech at the giant Ford River Rouge factory. He recounted what he saw as the positive history of Ford’s relations with the UAW, he appealed for unity with the union against the “real enemy”, foreign owned competitors. He spoke of the repercussions of extending the strike to Kentucky Truck. Ford forecast doom and gloom for the company if the strike continued. He claimed that the company could not give anymore. Wearing an open necked shirt, speaking directly into the camera, he tried to appear emotional at times.
What was Ford trying to accomplish with his intervention? He was attempting to appeal directly to the union ranks over the head of the leadership. Ford clearly hopes that a “war-weariness” is beginning to set in among the strikers. The strike has been going on for a month, the strike pay is considerably less than the workers normal take home pay, the weather on the picket line is beginning to get cold, and the holidays are beginning to approach. In this context, the Executive Chair hoped that he could undercut union members’ support for the Fain leadership. This is what accounts for the particular themes and tone of Ford’s speech.
The UAW’s response was characteristically short and sweet. Fain said “Bill Ford knows exactly how to settle this strike. Instead of threatening to close the Rouge, he should call up [Ford President] Jim Farley, tell him to stop playing games, and get a deal done—or we’ll close the Rouge for him.”
Importantly, Fain rejected company-union collaboration against competing companies and their workers. The UAW leader said, “It’s not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. It’s autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed. If Ford wants to be the all-American auto company, they can pay all-American wages and benefits. Workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda and others are not the enemy — they’re the UAW members of the future.” This is the right approach to take to workers of other employers and a clear break with the collaborationist outlook that’s far too common in the labor movement.
Double-check your work!
Our first ISP strike update referred to the most incompetent attack on a picket line ever. In this article, we want to draw attention to the most incompetent example of public relations department stage setting ever! Bill Ford delivered his speech in a front of a changing electronic photo and logo montage. This is a pretty common set-up for many speeches today. The speech is widely available on the internet. Look carefully at the picture in the bottom center of the screen at 1:35 into the speech. It’s a picture of Walter Reuther and other UAW members seconds before the brutal assault by goons of the Ford “Service Department”. The clearly recognizable company thugs can be seen on the right side of the picture. A photograph taken a few seconds later has become an iconic image of the labor struggles of the 1930s.
This May 26,1937 attack has become known as the Battle of the Overpass and is well-known throughout the labor movement as a vivid symbol of management’s bitter hostility to trade unionism. The whole purpose of Ford’s speech was to stress what a good friend he was to labor. It was to present a soft image to appeal to UAW members. Why on earth would you decide to choose one of the most famous examples of bitter conflict between workers and bosses as part of your photo array? We can only surmise that it was an example of extreme incompetence in the Ford Public Relations Department. Some hapless publicist in Dearborn is probably dusting off their resume by now!
Strike repercussions deepen
The effects of the strike grow as time goes on. There have now been 2,500 layoffs at Ford, 2,300 at GM, and more than 600 at Stellantis. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, the vehicle parts trade association, estimates that 39% of their members have laid-off workers. Each extension of the strike leads to more shutdowns in the tightly integrated supply chain based industry. Inventories at new dealer lots continue to appear stable for now.
Union members are digging in. The organization of strike pay and picketing is becoming smoother every day. Picket lines are preparing for a long haul. To give one small example of this: UAW 551 pickets at the Chicago Ford Assembly Plant have dealt with the recent rain by laying down straw over the muddy verge on 130th Street. Wooden pallets form a sort of sidewalk between the tent and picket locations. The picket line has become an encampment. This is the type of preparation and organization that will be needed as the strike continues.
Socialists must remain at their posts in solidarity with this cascading strike movement.
Adam Shils
Adam Shils is a member of the International Socialism Project in Chicago.
