Louisville Ford Motor Co. workers to vote on authorizing a strike for labor union
Ford Motor Co. workers in Louisville will be voting over the next couple of days on whether to authorize a strike as the United Auto Workers and Ford work to negotiate a new four-year labor contract before a September deadline.
The strike authorization vote does not mean that a strike is imminent.
Such a vote is actually a standard tactic used to apply pressure as the union's negotiating team works on a new contract, which includes a local supplement and a nationwide pact. Rank-and-file members typically vote resoundingly to give their leadership team backing to call for a strike if negotiations end up deadlocked.
A news release from UAW Local 862 said the strike authorization should help "secure a fair and equitable contract."
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Hourly workers will vote at Local 862 union halls near the Kentucky Truck Plant, at 2702 Chamberlain Lane, and near the Louisville Assembly Plant, at 3000 Fern Valley Road. Polls will open at 4 p.m. Monday and close Tuesday at 8 p.m.
All members will be required to show identification, such as a union card or Ford ID, in order to vote.
Union negotiators are expected to spar with the company over its push to increase the workers' portion of health care costs and trim an eight-year "grow-in" period where full-time workers reach top wages, as well as the increasing numbers of temporary workers now working in many factories.
Louisville's hourly workforce at the two Ford plants includes about 8,700 at KTP and 3,800 at LAP. The count doesn't include undisclosed numbers of temporary workers at each plant.
Todd Dunn, president of the UAW's Local 862, said "there are a lot of serious issues on the table ... we have to maintain what we got."
Ford executives have said that they want to provide fair wages and benefits, but must be careful to keep the automaker competitive when it's facing an array of challenges, starting with slower sales, trade tariffs and the threat of a global recession.
Results of the vote among Louisville workers should in by late Tuesday, Dunn said.
More:Almost 200 employees at a Kentucky Ford Motor supplier plant are being laid off
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