DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford on Monday called on autoworkers to come together to end a monthlong strike that he says could cost the company the ability to invest in the future.
Ford F, +1.02% has 57,000 UAW workers compared with 46,000 at GM GM, +1.35% and 43,000 at Stellantis STLA, +0.71%. “Many of our competitors moved jobs to Mexico as we added jobs here in the U.S.,” Ford said. Bill Ford, only the fourth family member to lead the 120-year-old company, said he has watched other countries lose their auto industries, then all of their manufacturing base. He said strong American manufacturing is essential for national security.
He threatened to strike and close Ford’s Rouge truck complex in Dearborn. “It’s not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. It’s autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed,” Fain said in a statement. Ford’s offer of a 23% general wage increase barely covers inflation over the last three or four years, said Applebee, 59.