The nearly century-old Chicago Assembly Plant on the city’s Southeast Side hummed back to life Saturday morning, as thousands of Ford workers returned to their jobs after nearly a month on the picket line in the United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers.
Ford reached a tentative agreement with the UAW on Wednesday, followed by Stellantis on Saturday and General Motors on Monday morning.
In addition to substantial pay raises and other benefits for workers, the Ford deal also includes a commitment to invest $400 million in the Chicago Assembly Plant itself as part of $8.1 billion to be spent across all of its facilities by the end of the new four-year agreement.
The Chicago Stamping Plant in Chicago Heights, which supplies parts to the assembly plant, is set to get $30 million as part of the agreement.
The Chicago Assembly Plant makes the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor SUVs. Chris Pena, president of UAW Local 551, which represents 4,613 employees at the plant, said the return-to-work timing was not a coincidence.
“It had the effect (the union) wanted on GM and Stellantis to come up with a deal,” Pena said Monday. “That happened really quick once Ford went back to work.”
The tentative agreements with the Big Three share similar gains for workers including a 25% increase in base wages, cost of living adjustments and the right to strike over plant closures. In addition to Ford investing in the Chicago Assembly Plant, Stellantis is committing to restarting the idled Belvidere Assembly Plant near Rockford, which could bring back thousands of jobs at the once booming facility.
The Chicago Assembly Plant has a storied history that began in 1924 with production of the Model T. In 2019, Ford spent $1 billion to transform the Torrence Avenue facility, which phased out production of the once top-selling Taurus sedan to focus on building SUVs. The Ford Explorer is now one of the automaker’s best-selling vehicles.
The UAW said the $400 million investment will go toward continued production of the current SUV lineup at Chicago Assembly Plant. A Ford spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Monday on how and when the $400 million would be put to work.
As part of the agreement, Chicago Ford workers, who walked off the job Sept. 29, are also in line to get back pay for the 27 days they’ve been on strike, in addition to a lump sum $5,000 per member ratification bonus.
Chicago Ford workers are expected to hold a ratification vote on the agreement next Monday and Tuesday, Pena said.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement, but there’s a lot of animosity for legacy employees, because they gave up too much during the recession,” Pena said. “But that’s not going to stop it from being ratified.”
The UAW, which represents 146,000 members across the U.S., launched a strike against all three automakers for the first time in the Detroit-based union’s 88-year history after the previous four-year agreement expired Sept. 15. The strike expanded to nearly 45,000 UAW members at eight assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers in 22 states before Ford reached its tentative agreement.
Ford’s return-to-work call includes more than 16,600 striking employees at three Ford plants and 3,617 workers temporarily laid off because of the production shutdown. The automaker said it may take up to four weeks to get the factories back up to full speed.
The Stellantis tentative agreement with the UAW includes bringing thousands of workers back to the Belvidere Assembly Plant near Rockford, with plans for a new truck product and an adjacent EV battery facility.
The massive auto plant has been the economic engine of Belvidere for nearly six decades, churning out everything from the Plymouth Fury and the Chrysler New Yorker to the Dodge Dart, becoming the exclusive home for the Jeep Cherokee in 2017. The region’s largest employer at its zenith, the plant had 5,464 workers on three shifts at the start of 2019.
In February, Stellantis “indefinitely” idled the assembly plant and laid off its last 1,200 workers after halting production of the Cherokee amid dwindling sales.
Restarting the Belvidere plant has been a priority for both the UAW and state legislators.
