UAW Accuses Ford of Shifting New Vehicle Production From Ohio to Mexico
Auto maker says it is committed to the Ohio factory but conditions have changed since last UAW contract
UAW‘s Gerald Kariem, shown here in September, said Ford is failing to live up to a commitment it made to the factory during the last round of contract talks.
PHOTO: NIC ANTAYA/GETTY IMAGES
By
Nora Naughton
Updated March 17, 2021 10:49 am ET
The United Auto Workers union is taking aim atFord Motor Co. over plans for a factory in Ohio, criticizing the car company for moving vehicle production intended for the facility to Mexico.
UAW Vice President Gerald Kariem in a letter to members Friday said the company told the union it was relocating manufacturing of a next-generation vehicle to Mexico without a clear explanation. Mr. Kariem said in making this move, Ford is failing to live up to a commitment it made to the factory during the last round of contract talks. A copy of the letter was provided to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
During labor negotiations in 2019, Ford pledged to spend $900 million on the factory, in part to retool for a new model that it would start building in 2023.
“We expect the company to honor its contractual commitments to this membership and when it fails to do so we will take action,” Mr. Kariem wrote in the letter of Ford.
Ford said in a statement Wednesday that it is committed to the factory and highlighted recent investments in U.S. manufacturing.
In a separate letter to employees, the Ohio plant manager, Jason Moore, said conditions have changed since the last UAW contract was negotiated and pointed to other investments the company has made at the factory, including hiring more than 100 workers to increase pickup truck production.
Mr. Moore’s letter didn’t reference plans to move a future vehicle to a different factory. A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment on the UAW’s statement that the company has redirected the vehicle to Mexico.
Research firm AutoForecast Solutions expects Ford to begin production in 2023 of two electric sport-utility vehicles at its factory in Cuautitlán, Mexico. Those vehicles previously had been earmarked for the Ohio plant, said Sam Fiorani, the firm’s vice president of global vehicle forecasting. A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment.
The auto industry’s domestic-manufacturing plans have come under more scrutiny in recent years, as former President Trump pressured car companies to bring vehicle production back to the U.S. from other countries, especially Mexico and China. Ford, in particular, was previously criticized for plans to move small car production to Mexico in 2016. The company has since discontinued those models.
President Biden is also expected to focus on U.S. vehicle manufacturing as part of his plan to create new auto industry jobs.
Any loss of production for Ford’s Ohio plant would be the latest blow to the region, once a stronghold of vehicle manufacturing. General Motors Co. in 2019 ceased production of the Chevrolet Cruze at a factory in Lordstown, Ohio, affecting more than 1,000 jobs in the area.
—Mike Colias contributed to this article.
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