Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford says the United Auto Workers’ ongoing strike should be focused on defending America’s manufacturing jobs against Chinese companies and other foreign competitors.at the Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford made a populist pitch to striking auto workers, stating that Ford Motor Co.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra speaks at a Shanghai GM media event ahead of the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in China on April 19, 2015. United Auto Workers President Gary Jones, left, and Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford shake hands to open their contract talks on July 15, 2019, in Dearborn, Michigan.
We employ more UAW workers than any other automaker. We assemble more vehicles here in the U.S. than anybody else, including 100% of our F-Series trucks.These are choices we made, and it has added costs to our business in an industry that is extraordinarily competitive. But it aligns with my personal values, the values of our company and our history.Every set of negotiations has been challenging.
Ford also referenced the Ford Motor Company’s historic River Rouge Complex, known as “The Rouge,” which was built nearly 100 years ago by his great-grandfather Henry Ford and was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1978 in recognition of its seminal importance to the history of American manufacturing.
The Rouge, Ford said, is proof of his company’s commitment to American manufacturing as it remains operating today despite calls to close it down. Ford described the iconic manufacturing complex as “the crown jewel of a company that still believes building in America matters.”