LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Employees of Kentucky’s Ford truck plant in Louisville are entering their first full week on strike.
The United Auto Workers announced last week Ford’s largest U.S. production plant was shutting down. The strategy for the UAW going into this strike was to pick and choose which plants across the country would strike at any time, and nearly a month into the strike, employees at Kentucky’s Ford Truck Plant were asked to walk off the job.
Ford called the move by the UAW “grossly irresponsible.”
On Monday Ford employees picketed in front of Ford’s truck plant in Louisville. Daniel Wohlleb, a strike leader, says they picket in four-hour shifts and many stay longer, offsetting the cold morning with coffee.
“But a lot of people are coming every day and showing their support, putting in extra time,” Wohlleb told Spectrum News 1.
Wohleb has put in 23 years at the Ford plant. Last Wednesday it became the latest facility to shut down amid a negotiating stalemate between auto workers and the “Big Three” automakers. Wohlleb and thousands of Kentuckians have joined the strike.
“It’s important. We have to be out here and show our support and let everybody know that this is important to us and we’re not going to back down. We feel like we deserve this,” he said.
UAW wants higher wages than what automakers are offering and diminishing a “two-tier” wage system which requires nearly a decade of employment before an autoworker can collect a significant pay increase. Automakers have offered more than a 20% increase to starting wages but the UAW wants double that.
This weekend thousands of Ford employees signed up for strike pay at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Wohlleb says his strike pay equals between 50% and 60% of what he typically makes. “So I know that I’m probably on a higher pay scale than a lot of these newer workers, so it’s different for everybody because of the two-tier system. So it’s not a fair system,” Wohlleb explained.
This husband and father of three doesn’t know how the long the strike will last but even with partial pay from the UAW’s strike reserves, the pressure isn’t only on automakers, it’s on everyone who walked off the job and picked up a sign.
“It’s a scary time because if, you know, this goes on for too long, it’s just hard to keep up,” he shared.
While Wohlleb thinks about that, he is encouraged by the support from drivers as they pass by.