Another 354 employees were temporarily laid off beginning today at Ford's Sharonville Transmission Plant in Cincinnati, the company confirmed in an email. It’s the second round of layoffs at the plant after 306 workers were furloughed beginning Oct. 16. The plant employs 1,601 hourly workers and produces transmissions for Ford Super Duty pickups.
Ford also confirmed that another 67 Sterling Axle Plant employees in Michigan were told to not report to work beginning today. It brings the total number of workers laid off at Sterling Axle to 485.
Another 10 workers were laid off beginning today at Ford’s Rawsonville Components Plant in Michigan. Last week, Ford laid off 45 workers at the plant because of the strike at the company's Chicago Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant. The Rawsonville plant has 579 hourly employees.
According to Ford, the Sterling Axle Plant must scale back production of parts that would normally be shipped to Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant, where 8,700 workers walked out on Oct. 11 in the largest strike action since it began last month.
“Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy has knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage,” Ford said in an email. “In this case, the strike at Kentucky Truck Plant has directly impacted some operations at Sterling Axle Plant.”
Earlier this month, Ford made its seventh offer to the UAW to reach a tentative labor agreement that would run through April 30, 2028 and cover roughly 57,000 UAW-represented employees. It includes pay raises of more than 20% for full-time hourly employees, cost-of-living adjustments, a reduced timeline to reach top wages, increased 401(k) contributions, more paid time off and an end to tiered wages.
The UAW, however, is looking for more and has yet to accept Ford’s contract proposal.
“One thing we’ve been hearing over and over from these companies is how they’ve offered us record contracts,” said UAW President Shawn Fain in a statement last week. “These are already record contracts. But they come at the end of decades of record decline. So, it’s not enough to be the best-ever when autoworkers have gone backwards over the last two decades. That’s a very low bar.”
In an emailed response, Ford said, “It’s good that Mr. Fain acknowledged Ford’s contract offer ‘already’ is a record and remains the best one on the table. We know that our UAW employees are hurting in this prolonged strike because of lost wages and lost profit sharing. We’re eager to conclude these negotiations with a contract that meaningfully improves their lives and provides a strong future for everyone.
