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Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning on the production line in Dearborn, Michigan. The company will temporarily lay off one of three shifts at the plant, but the move is unrelated to strikes by the UAW at other plants.
CNN
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Ford is laying off about 700 workers who make the F-150 Lightning, the electric version of the company’s best-selling pickup truck, but unlike other recent layoffs, this layoff was facilitated by the United Auto Workers union. It has nothing to do with the strike inside.
The company said it would temporarily do so. cut It’s one of three shifts at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center near our headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Layoffs will be rotated among the three shifts.
Ford temporarily closed plants this summer to increase production capacity, and the company said the layoffs were due to “supply chain issues and the number of vehicles on hold for quality inspections after production resumed in August.” “Several constraints, including processing and delivery,” he said.
The company announced earlier this month that Lightning’s third-quarter sales were down 45% from a year ago, but Ford expects sales to increase in the final three months of the year as it ramps up factory capacity. said. effect. The company said overall demand for its electric vehicle lineup remained strong, increasing 65% in the third quarter.
of UAW targeted attacks Ford, General Motors and Stellantis were forced to lay off workers at five assembly plants, with all three companies laying off workers.
Ford announced an additional 500 layoffs across five parts plants as of Monday after the UAW expanded its strike at the company’s largest plant. kentucky truck factory, last Wednesday.On Thursday, company executives said the total Of these, 4,600 people were laid off. A growing Kentucky truck strike is expected to halt operations at various plants by the end of this week. To date, the company has laid off nearly 2,500 workers, not including those working on Lightning’s construction.
Stellantis on Friday expanded its layoffs to 780 workers at two plants in Kokomo, Indiana, bringing the total to 1,420 company-wide job cuts since the strike began on September 15.
GM laid off 2,300 employees as a result of the strike. However, no additional layoffs have been announced in recent days.
Workers laid off due to strikes are not eligible for unemployment benefits in most states. Workers are also not eligible to receive so-called “subpay” paid by companies. Unemployment benefits and subsidies together cover 74% of your regular salary during layoffs. However, Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch said laid-off F-150 Lightning employees will be eligible for both unemployment and subsidies.
The union disputes the company’s claim that it needs to lay off workers whose jobs have been affected by strikes at other factories, but currently there are about 30,000 workers who have been laid off. He said he was entitled to the same $500 weekly strike pay as 5,000 other workers. Strike three companies.
UAW President Sean Fein previously said of the layoffs, “They’re trying to pressure our members to settle for less.” “We don’t have to lay off any employees because we’re making record profits.”
