Ford workers ask company to stop assembling and selling police cars as protests continue
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As protests and conversations about police brutality continue, an estimated 100 Ford Motor Co. employees have asked the motor vehicle manufacturer to consider no longer assembling and selling police cars, as reported by The Verge. As the Detroit Free Press confirmed, this issue has been raised by employees in multiple internal letters, as well as during an online town hall meeting. According to the outlet, this has occurred since George Floyd’s death at the hands of police on May 25.
Some background information: Ford makes the majority of police cars in the United States. Other makers include Chrysler and GM. New technologies are reportedly tested in Ford’s police vehicles, and some make their way into the standard car line-up. According to The Verge, Ford’s police cars are not a big moneymaker compared to its overall profits.
The letter circulated by employees reportedly asks the company to “cease development, production, and sale of all custom police vehicles and products.” According to Jalopnik, the outlet which first reported on the letter, the group stressed: “We cannot claim to support the fight against systemic racism while supplying and supporting the very systems that perpetrate violence against Black Americans.” In a time when more and more companies are releasing statements of solidarity and support with the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s especially important and understandable for people to, essentially, ask those with bargaining power to put their money with their mouths are.
Jim Hackett, the CEO of Ford, reportedly responded to employees in a memo, noting that he doesn’t believe it’s “controversial” that the “Ford Police Interceptor helps officers do their job,” referring to one of the models it produces. In the letter, he adds that taking away the Interceptor would “be doing harm to their safety and making it harder for them to do their job.” The letter states that Ford will keep doing its current business.
In the bigger picture, employees speaking out about how their products or labor are used has gained traction in some fields. For example, a number of essential workers who provided delivery services for companies like Instacart, Amazon, and Target protested for better working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon, in particular, received mass criticism after a handful of workers allege they had been fired for organizing or advocating for improved safety. Facebook employees staged a virtual walk-out last month over Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s overall lack of action on Donald Trump’s various dangerous Facebook posts. The comparison became especially sharp as Twitter recently labeled at least one of his tweets as “glorifying violence.”