Yahoo Autos ‘At The Limit’: Ford Claims It Cannot Offer More To Striking Auto Workers
Good morning! It’s Friday, October 13, 2023, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
1st Gear: Ford Says Can’t Increase Wage Offers To UAW
A senior Ford executive said earlier this week that the automaker is “at the limit” of what it can spend on wage increases and benefits for striking United Auto Workers members. He also warned that the union’s strike at the company’s most profitable factory, which started on October 11, could harm workers and slash profits.
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“Here’s to hoping talks at Stellantis today are more productive than Ford yesterday,” Fain wrote on social media. Stellantis did not immediately comment.
The standoff between Auto Workers and Ford could soon end up impacting thousands of workers who are not UAW members.
About 4,600 Ford workers could be idled because their jobs depend on production of Super Duty pickups and large Lincoln and Ford SUVs at Kentucky Truck, said Ford manufacturing vice president Bryce Currie.
Already, 13,000 workers at Ford suppliers have been furloughed because of earlier UAW walkouts at two Ford assembly plants, Ford supply chain chief Liz Door said. The shutdown of Kentucky Truck, Ford’s largest factory, could push a fragile supply chain “toward collapse,” she said.
UAW leaders have said that Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis can actually afford to increase pay for UAW workers beyond the 20-ish percent they have been offered, end lower-wage tiers for seniority and temporary workers, and restore defined benefit pensions lost in 2007 if they just rein in share buybacks and cut executive pay.
For reference, the Big Three CEOs all make between $21 and $29 million per year, which works out to be about 300 times what their employees do.
2nd Gear: A $7 Billion Hydrogen Expansion Is Coming
President Joe Biden is expected to announce the locations of seven regional hubs to manufacture hydrogen on October 13. It’s a fuel that has largely only been viable for use in California because that’s where all the filling stations currently are.
Biden will make the announcement with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the Tioga Marine Terminal in the Port of Philadelphia. It will eventually be used to produce hydrogen from renewable and nuclear power at a new Mid-Atlantic hydrogen hub comprising of parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. From CNN:
Seven regional hubs will be awarded funding from a pot of $7 billion that was passed last year as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. In addition to the Mid-Atlantic, the new hubs will include:
An Appalachian hub, located across West Virginia, Southeastern Ohio, and Southwestern Pennsylvania – this hub will be the one largest in terms of production and derive hydrogen from the region’s methane gas;
A California hub that will span the state and encompassing the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland;
A Houston, Texas-based hub that could eventually expand to include parts of Louisiana, which will derive hydrogen from methane gas and renewable energy;
An Upper Midwest hub spanning Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, which will derive hydrogen from wind energy and will be used for agriculture and power;
A second Midwest hub will span parts of Illinois, Indiana and southwest Michigan and will be derived mostly from nuclear power;
And a Pacific Northwest hub will span parts of Eastern Washington and Oregon as well as parts of Montana and will focus on hydrogen for freight and agriculture.
Officials reportedly say they are still determining exact locations for the hubs in each region.
The plan from the Biden administration is that these hubs will hopefully spark new U.S. industries that senior administration officials reportedly estimated could create about $50 billion in public and private investment and create tens of thousands of jobs.
