After Enduring Months of Union-Busting Tactics to Undermine NLRB Vote, BlueOval SK Workers Deliver Petition Demanding Ford Recognize UAW and Negotiate Future of Glendale
On Wednesday, workers at BlueOval SK delivered a petition with over 1,000 signatures to the company’s corporate offices in Elizabethtown, demanding that Ford Motor Company recognize the union – and meet with the workers to negotiate over the future of the site.
In August, workers voted in favor of unionizing the joint venture in Kentucky. The company spent months fighting to undermine the results of the NLRB election until December – just before Christmas – when they informed over 1,600 workers that their jobs would be terminated on February 14. Meanwhile, the NLRB ruled against the company’s challenges to the vote, determining that the union at BlueOval SK be certified and recognized by the company.
“It’s time for Ford to do the right thing by BlueOval SK workers, recognize the union, and sit down to negotiate the future of Glendale,” said the UAW’s Ford Department Vice President Laura Dickerson. “As a legacy UAW company for over eighty years, this is a disappointing choice from Ford. Our union is going to stand up and fight for the more than 1,600 livelihoods this company is upending without any second thought.”
“We voted for a union at BlueOval SK because we wanted to have a voice,” said Brittany Diprisco, a Quality Operator in Cell Assembly at the plant. “That fight hasn’t changed. This is still about coming together with our coworkers to have a say in our future.”
“Despite this company fighting hard to undermine the results of the workers’ union election, when it was all said and done, the Board ruled in our favor,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “These workers are UAW members – end of story. It’s time for Ford to meet with us to negotiate the future of this plant in Glendale. Who are we? U-A-W!”
With over $250 million in state subsidies alone, workers and community supporters are calling on Ford to live up to the promise of good, stable jobs made when Kentucky agreed to give them taxpayer money to build the Glendale facility.
Photos and videos from today’s petition delivery are available for use by the media here.
