Ford lays off hundreds at Chicago Heights plant amid ongoing UAW strike
Picketers rally outside the Ford assembly plant in the South Deering neighborhood, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file
Some workers at a Chicago-area Ford Motor Co. plant have been laid off amid the United Auto Workers strike.
About 330 employees were laid off between the stamping plant in Chicago Heights and an engine plant in Lima, Ohio, Ford said in a statement Monday.
“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. In this case, the strike at Chicago Assembly Plant has directly impacted some operations at Chicago Stamping Plant and Lima Engine Plant,” the company said.
At the Chicago Heights plant, 243 employees were laid off as of Saturday. Ninety were laid off at the Lima plant on Monday, according to Ford.
Workers at a Chicago Ford assembly plant have been striking since last week. It was the third Illinois location to picket after the UAW broadened its strike to include a GM location in Bolingbrook and a Stellantis site in Naperville, both parts distribution sites.
About 25,000, or 17%, of the union’s 146,000 workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) are now on strike. This is the first time in UAW’s 88-year history that the union has targeted all three automakers at once.
UAW workers are striking for higher wages, restoration of cost-of-living pay raises, an end to varying tiers of wages for factory jobs, a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires who now receive only 401(k)-style retirement plans, pension increases for retirees and other items.
“These are not lock outs. These layoffs are a consequence of the strike at Chicago Assembly Plant, because these three facilities must reduce production of parts that would normally be shipped to Chicago Assembly Plant,” Ford said.
Ford has laid off 930 employees because of the ongoing strike. Last month, 600 people were laid off at a Michigan plant.
The stamping plant in Chicago Heights employs 1,044 workers and the assembly plant employs 4,613.