As Tennesseans debate the future of auto manufacturing in your state, I hope you will consider the experience of your neighbors to the north.
I represent Louisville in the U.S. House of Representatives. We’re the largest city in Kentucky and home to many world-class amenities, such as Churchill Downs, Louisville Slugger, and the Muhammad Ali Museum. We’re also the proud home of two United Auto Workers union-represented auto assembly plants.
Today, Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant is the largest and most flexible high-volume Ford facility in North America. A new Ford Escape comes off the line every 44 seconds, the product of more than 4,200 UAW workers operating state-of-the-art machinery capable of producing six different vehicles.
It wasn’t always that way. Just five years ago, the plant was on the brink of closure, and workers who’d watched cut after cut were rightfully worried about their futures. But through an innovative combination of federal investment, new commitments from Ford, and the extraordinary dedication of the UAW, the plant has emerged stronger than ever.
UAW workers are now building those Escapes under a collaborative agreement that secured the current workforce, brought a third shift to the plant, and ultimately helped create thousands of new jobs.