Ford To Build New EV In Mexico Angering UAW

The United Auto Workers union is not happy with Ford after the automaker announced that it would build a new electric vehicle in Mexico rather than its manufacturing facility in Ohio. The UAW has suggested that Ford's plan could violate the contract between the automaker and the union. A letter from the UAW was made public last week where Vice President Gerald Kariem said that Ford intends to build the next-generation vehicle in Mexico.

In the letter, Kariem said that the UAW 100 percent rejects Ford's decision to put "corporate greed and more potential profits" over American jobs and the future of our members. The UAW is calling for Ford to honor its contractual commitments to the union, and if the automaker fails to do so, Kariem says that the union will take action.

The UAW VP says that the union is currently "intensely exploring" its options. According to the UAW, in 2019, part of the four-your contract saw Ford committing $900 million for a plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, for a next-generation product to be added in 2023. According to the UAW, that new model would secure the plant's employment well into the foreseeable future.

Ford did issue a statement last week but failed to address any criticism by the union, stating that conditions had changed since 2019. The automotive market continues to struggle in the face of the coronavirus pandemic that is still impacting production and keeping many employees working from home. When the contract was made with UAW in 2019, the pandemic was something no one expected.

Ford has invested more than $185 million since 2019 in the Ohio Assembly Plant. That investment included plans to increase capacity for building the popular Super Duty truck line. Currently, the Ohio Assembly Plant employs about 1600 UAW employees. The Mexican plant in question is the same facility where the Mustang Mach-E is produced.