China News Service, October 12 (Xinhua) According to comprehensive US media reports, on the afternoon of the 11th local time, 8,700 auto workers at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant went on strike. Strike action by carmakers escalates.

According to the Associated Press, at around 6:30 pm on the 11th, 8,700 workers at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant, which is Ford’s largest and most profitable plant in the world, joined the strike initiated by the UAW.

UAW President Fein issued a statement saying that the union has waited long enough but has still not received a fair contract from Ford.

Fein said that if Ford still cannot understand the union’s demands after four weeks of strike, then the strike of 8,700 workers will “help them.”

According to ABC, Ford issued a statement after the strike, calling the escalation of the strike “grossly irresponsible.”

Ford executives said that the union held a meeting at Ford’s Michigan headquarters on the afternoon of the 11th. At the meeting, they failed to reach an agreement on the relevant contract. Later, Fein said that Ford would “lose the Kentucky truck plant.”

Data show that the United Auto Workers is one of the largest unions in the United States, with 146,000 members in General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, accounting for approximately 56% of all workers in the U.S. auto manufacturing industry.

In mid-September, a large number of American auto workers went on strike because UAW employees and the three major automakers including Ford failed to negotiate a new labor agreement. Since the strike began, the U.S. economy has suffered approximately $5.5 billion in damage.