Ford temporarily lays off 300 more US workers due to strike

Ford announced Monday that over 300 more workers have been temporarily laid off due to “knock-on effects” from the ongoing strike against the company and two other US automakers.

The strike against the so-called “Big Three” car manufacturers—Ford, Stellantis and General Motors—began on September 15 when a previous contract expired without a replacement.

Instead of calling for all of its 146,000 members to strike at once, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union has deployed a targeted approach, adding more sites as the weeks drag on.

Around 25,000 members have so far been called to stop work.

“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy has knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage,” Ford said in a statement on Monday.

“Approximately 330 employees have been asked not to report to work,” the statement added, saying the total number of “strike-related layoffs” at Ford now totaled 930.

Ford said its sites impacted by Monday’s announcement were in Chicago, Illinois and Lima, Ohio.

Stellantis and General Motors have also reduced staff at several sites for the same reasons.

Initially, the UAW called on some 13,000 members at the three automakers to stop work, then added another 5,600 a week later due to lack of progress in negotiations. A further 7,000 were added the following week to bring the total to some 25,000.

© 2023 AFP