Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford 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.
In a rare speech during contract talks in the company’s hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, Ford said high labor costs could limit spending to develop new vehicles and invest in factories. “It’s the absolute lifeblood of our company. And if we lose it, we will lose to the competition. America loses. Many jobs will be lost,” said the great grandson of company founder Henry Ford.
The company, he said, builds more vehicles in America and has more United Auto Workers employees than any company, which has increased its costs in a highly competitive industry.
Ford has 57,000 UAW workers compared with 46,000 at GM and 43,000 at Stellantis. “Many of our competitors moved jobs to Mexico as we added jobs here in the U.S.,” Ford said.
So I remember listening to those hearings on C-Span radio back in the day. Ford was asked if they were asking for handouts in China and Mexico and the response was literally, “No, we are profitable in those countries.” Which I thought was pretty shitty to expect the government to bail out a company that had profitable divisions.
But also Ford was the only company that mortgaged their brand and logo on proper loans instead of from a bailout from the government, which forced Ford to make sure they fixed their business plan in the US which they did for a while.