(WXYZ) — Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford called on the United Auto Workers union to reach an agreement with the automaker as the strike against the Big Three continues into its fifth week.
Speaking for the first time since workers went on strike, Bill Ford said he wanted to speak from the Ford Rouge Factory visitor center, because that plant is the one where Ford builds the F-150 and it has a rich history in our country dating back more than 100 years.
Bill Ford took aim at UAW President Shawn Fain and other union leadership, and said the UAW and Ford need to come together to fight the real competition – foreign automakers.
"This should not be Ford vs the UAW. It should be Ford and the UAW against Toyota, Honda, Tesla and other Chinese automakers," Bill Ford said. "They are loving this strike because they know the longer this goes on, the better it is for them. They will win and all of us will lose."
In response to the speech, the UAW issued the following statement from Fain:
Bill Ford knows exactly how to settle this strike. Instead of threatening to close the Rouge, he should call up Jim Farley, tell him to stop playing games and get a deal done, or we’ll close the Rouge for him. 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.
Ford workers on the picket line echoed Fain's statements. Charmonique Demings says she's worked on the assembly line at Ford for the last 11 years and getting retiree benefits secured is one of the reasons she's willing to hold the line.
"We’re not going to work here forever. So when we retire we would like to have the benefits, the health insurance, the 401k, the pension," said Demings.
Demings says despite Bill Ford's Monday address, she believes the company can afford to make a sweeter deal for autoworkers.
"They can give us more. I believe they can give us everything that’s on the table and still make their billions and profits will still be high," said Demings. "It is frustrating because we know they can do it. It’s very frustrating."
Fain last week called on the UAW to strike Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant, which has 8,700 workers on strike. The plant produces the Super Duty pickup trucks, the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator.
After the strike was called last week, Ford leadership said they were surprised by the escalation, with Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra said, "As a company, if we go further, we risk the ability to invest in the business and profitably grow, and profitable growth is in everyone's best interest."
On Monday, Bill Ford said Ford's ability to invest in the future isn't just a talking point.
"It’s the absolute lifeblood of our company. And if we lose it, we will lose to the competition. America loses. Many jobs will be lost. So will future investments. We will lose factories like the one we are in today and communities will suffer greatly," Bill Ford said.
Fain said he called on the Kentucky plant to strike after Ford gave them the same offer the automaker gave two weeks ago.
The automaker is also continuing to lay off workers as the supply chain is affected by the strikes.
On Monday, Ford laid off 550 workers at plants in Illinois, Ohio and in metro Detroit. The new layoffs bring the total number of Ford workers laid off to 2,480. Right now, 16,660 Ford UAW members are on strike.
He also detailed his history with the UAW, saying he has been part of every contract negotiation since 1982 and worked with every leader, saying Ford has been the only automaker to add UAW jobs over the past 15 years.
"We employ more UAW workers than any other automaker. We assemble more vehicles here in the U.S. than anybody else, including 100% of our F-Series trucks," he said.
Bill Ford called the automaker the strongest partner the UAW has ever known, and they realize how vital the UAW is to the company's success.
"We agree that our UAW colleagues deserve even more. That’s why we have offered a record contract which would make our UAW employees among the best-paid manufacturing workers in the world," Bill Ford said.
