Whitmer says Ford hasn't told her UAW strike end, Marshall re-start linked

While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she believes Ford Motor Co. will resume its work to build a battery plant near Marshall once the UAW strike ends, she said Thursday that leadership at the company has not told her that they're looking for a strike resolution to resume construction.

"I've not heard that specifically, but I think like anyone that's perhaps one of the — I assume that's one of the — issues at hand," Whitmer told the Free Press on Thursday.

Ford publicly shared its decision to pause construction at the Marshall site last week. "We're pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall site, effective today, until we’re confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant," Ford spokesman T.R. Reid told the Detroit Free Press last Monday. "We haven't made any final decision about the planned investment there." Ford CEO Jim Farley said later that its battery plant plans in Michigan could change in scope either becoming bigger or smaller and that its pause could help the company determine next steps.

At the beginning of the year, Whitmer joined top executives at Ford to celebrate the company's decision to create a battery plant in Michigan. The $3.5 billion investment from Ford to create 2,500 jobs at the site is slated to receive about $1.8 billion in public subsidies.

Shortly after the UAW strike against the Detroit Three entered its second week, Ford announced its construction pause.

"There are lots of implications from these negotiations and at the end of the day, I believe that once they are concluded, we will continue to move forward on Marshall," Whitmer told reporters earlier this week. On Thursday, she reiterated concerns about a long UAW strike and once again emphasized that she thinks the battery plant is key to securing Michigan's economic leadership in the auto industry as it moves toward electric vehicle production.

"Well, I think everyone knows that this kind of project is really pivotal as this mobility sector transitions. We've worked very closely with Ford," she said. "I'm just hoping that it's not a prolonged strike because you know a lot of this is contingent upon Ford being able to compete and to be profitable. And so workers deserve a fair contract but Ford also has to be a strong ongoing concern for us to realize all the goals that we've set as an administration."

The quality of jobs at future battery plants is a sticking point in contract negotiations between the UAW and automakers. UAW President Shawn Fain has repeatedly expressed his concerns that the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles threatens to leave workers behind. Ford asserts that current employees won't lose jobs because of battery plants and notes that future workers could choose the UAW to represent them.

Gov. Whitmer: Possibility of prolonged UAW strike 'concerns me greatly'

Whitmer has championed the state's deal with Ford and others her administration has made to land electric vehicle-related plants in Michigan as a path for creating good-paying manufacturing jobs in the state. Those deals have encountered pushback from some local residents and reservations from lawmakers uncomfortable with the level of public spending going to corporations.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak — who leads the Senate Economic and Community Development Committee — unveiled a legislative package this week billed as an overhaul of the main business subsidy fund the Whitmer administration has used to land electric vehicle investments, including the Ford battery plant.

Under McMorrow's proposal, companies receiving business subsidies would have to demonstrate local engagement with the community where it plans to locate a project while the state would require 20% of subsidies go toward community investments as part of its deals with companies.

"These are direct investments into a community. It's not to the company. It's not to site development." McMorrow told reporters. It's to fund various local needs from child care to infrastructure, she said.

Whitmer said she's generally on board with the changes which she said her administration helped shape and plans to monitor closely as the package advances through the Legislature.

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer: Ford hasn't said end of UAW strike means Marshall re-start