Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LABOR NEWS—UAW demands recognition at a Ford battery plant in Kentucky, Michigan heckler not ‘fired’, (Feb 12, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

The union has stated that the Ford worker who heckled President Trump during a plant visit, calling him a “pedophile protector,” has a discipline-free record and kept his job.

According to reports from the United Auto Workers union, with layoffs on the horizon, over 1,000 workers and community supporters of the BlueOval SK site signed onto a petition demanding that Ford Motor Company recognize the union and meet with the workers to negotiate over the site’s future. In August, workers voted in favor of unionizing. The company fought those results and, just before Christmas, informed over 1,600 workers that their jobs would be terminated on Valentine’s Day. In the meantime, the NLRB had ruled against the company’s challenges, determining that the union at BlueOval SK be certified and recognized by the company.

Time to negotiate. “It’s time for Ford to do the right thing by BlueOval SK workers, recognize the union, and sit down to negotiate the future of Glendale,” said the UAW’s Ford Department Vice President Laura Dickerson. “As a legacy UAW company for over eighty years, this is a disappointing choice from Ford. Our union is going to stand up and fight for the more than 1,600 livelihoods this company is upending without any second thought.”

“Despite this company fighting hard to undermine the results of the workers’ union election, when it was all said and done, the Board ruled in our favor,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “These workers are UAW members— end of story. It’s time for Ford to meet with us to negotiate the future of this plant in Glendale.”

The Michigan heckler. Elsewhere in Ford and UAW news, there was good news for a Ford employee—and UAW member—in Michigan. In January, during President Trump’s visit to Ford’s Dearborn truck plant, an autoworker at the plant drew the ire of the President after loudly calling him a “pedophile protector.” Trump appeared to use several expletives in response to the comment, along with crude hand gestures, and, according to a UAW vice president, told the worker that he was fired.

Thereafter, it was reported that the worker had been suspended by the employer. According to a statement by Dickerson made at that time, the UAW planned to ensure its member “receives the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member.” She added, “Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States.”

And, indeed, the union has now reported that the worker has no discipline on his record and kept his job. “This ain’t ‘The Apprentice,’” Dickerson reportedly said recently, when commenting on the worker’s status. She added her belief that this incident, and Trump’s crude hand gesture, showed what the president “really thinks about working people.”

Companies: Ford Motor Company; United Auto Workers

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