EXCLUSIVE: Workers at Ford, SK On battery plant in Kentucky file for union election

After announcing a public campaign to unionize in November, workers at the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County officially filed Tuesday for a union election to join the UAW.

Workers at the battery plant have taken the next steps to join the UAW — the same union representing auto workers from Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — noting safety concerns, worker health issues, and lack of open communication from the company.

“I just hope that the company takes us serious, steps up to the plate, fixes these health and safety concerns, and actually puts a value on employees,” said Chad Johnson, a quality control worker at the BlueOval SK Battery Park who has worked there for nearly a year and a half. “We want something in black and white that’s legally binding between these two mutual parties, so that we all know where we’re at … there’s not all this gray area.”

The roughly $6 billion battery park, a joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and South Korean company SK On, is expected to start producing batteries for electric vehicles in Ford’s lineup at Kentucky 1, the first of its twin battery plants on site in 2025. A BlueOval SK spokesperson declined to offer additional details on if production has already started at the plant in Glendale or when it will start this year.

“It’s actually kind of exciting, because we’ve had a lot of time to practice at this, to get to know the technology and so to finally get to put it to use and actually do the work, it’s kind of exciting,” Johnson told the Courier Journal Tuesday.

The movement to become unionized with the UAW comes after UAW President Shawn Fain led the union on a historic multi-company, multi-state, multi-facility strike in the fall of 2023, earning workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis new contracts with higher wages and additional benefits.

During the 2023 contract negotiations, the UAW wanted to secure automatic unionization for the BlueOval SK facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee but were unsuccessful. Despite this, the UAW has already successfully won a contract for battery plant workers at Ultium in Lordstown, Ohio, and now the union looks to do the same in Kentucky, the Courier Journal previously reported.

“It’s a nationwide movement, because people want their fair share,” Johnson said about union efforts post-2023 UAW strike. “They want their say at the table, and so that strike was huge.”

Gov. Andy Beshear, who considers himself a “pro-union governor,” has constantly touted the BlueOval SK Battery Park as a key component of solidifying Kentucky as the “EV capital of the U.S.”

Recently, BlueOval SK announced wage increases for its employees starting this year. The minimum hourly rate for workers at the battery park will be $23.50 after the first 90 days of work, the Courier Journal previously reported.

At the time of the wage increase notice, UAW officials referred to this as a common tactic by automakers to legally and subtly encourage workers to not join a union. Similar moves were seen during an attempted UAW effort at the Toyota plant in Georgetown. BlueOval SK representatives previously told the Courier Journal the wage increase came “after a careful and lengthy review of comparable compensation and benefits data provided from multiple sources.”

Workers in alignment with unionization at the plant believe joining the UAW will provide better pay, benefits and worker safety protections.

Now that workers have filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board, next steps include hosting an election and having a majority of workers vote in favor of the union.

“It’s a big day for those workers … when you get to file and you’re preparing for the next step of now winning that election and get prepared to sit down with the company across the table to give yourself a brighter future for not only for you, but your family,” UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith told the Courier Journal Tuesday. “We need 100% participation, because when we vote and that vote is strong, it’s just going to be better for all the workers and for us to sit down with the company and negotiate.”

This story will update.

Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter at @oliviamevans_.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ford, SK On battery park employees file for union election in Kentucky

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