Members of the United Auto Workers union picket outside the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, on Sept. 26, 2023.
Matthew Hatcher | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT – Ford Motor is “at the limit” of what it can offer the United Auto Workers union in terms of economic concessions, an executive said Thursday as contract negotiations continue for roughly 57,000 U.S. workers.
Kumar Galhotra, president of the company’s traditional operations, said any additional costs would hurt the automaker’s ability to operate in the future and invest in emerging areas such as electric vehicles.
“We are at the limit … We stretched to get to this point,” Galhotra said Thursday during a media and analyst call. “Going further will hurt our ability to invest in the business like we need to invest.”
Galhotra declined to disclose how much the company’s current offer to the union would cost the company.
His comments come a day after the union unexpectedly launched a strike at the automaker’s highly profitable SUV and pickup truck plant in Kentucky.
“We’re surprised by the escalation last night,” Galhotra said. “Kentucky Truck Plant is one of the most important manufacturing plants of any kind in America.”
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