Factory workers at two Ford plants in Kentucky have voted against a new labor contract the United Auto Workers union negotiated in late October.
While 69% of the plants’ skilled trade workers approved the deal, 55% of their production workers voted against it, according to a Facebook post from UAW Local 862 that showed the vote results Monday.
The tentative deal includes 25% wage increases over the course of the four-year contract, including an immediate 11% increase; $5,000 bonuses upon ratification; the right to strike over plant closures in the future; and $8.1 billion in new plant investments.
The no vote among production workers at Ford’s Kentucky plants comes just a handful of days after workers at a General Motors assembly plant in Michigan also voted against a deal the union had negotiated with the Detroit car company in late October.
Similar to the Ford workers, a majority of production workers voted against the contract, while a majority of skilled workers voted to approve it.
Ford was the first of the Big Three Detroit automakers to strike a deal with the UAW, ending a nearly six-week old strike that also brought some GM and Stellantis production lines to a standstill. In early November, a majority of workers at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., approved their new contract.
UAW Local 862 President Todd Dunn said of Sunday’s results, “The outcome, you know, it was what it was.”
Dunn pointed to a few areas for why the votes turned out the way they did, including the complexity of the agreement and complacency among some members, thinking the contract would pass, regardless.
“‘Hell it’s going to pass anyway’ where you know, I don’t need to go vote, there was a lot of that,” Dunn said.
He also pointed to social media, where inaccurate information about the agreement could have influenced how some voted.
“A lot of it was uneducated thought processes going in to vote whether it yes or be no, you know, so I blame a lot of it on that social media interaction,” Dunn said.
Dunn is thankful for all the work that went into getting this agreement for the union’s workers. He adds the UAW has also seen increased interest in organizing from other workforce areas.
“Good things are coming out of it. It’s a historic agreement, but overall, just the byproduct of what it’s left,” Dunn said. “It’s the desire to organize across the United States stronger.”
UAW local chapters across the country will continue voting on the tentative four-year contracts through November 17.
The no votes come as United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is calling upon additional car companies to unionize.