A message from
 President Jeff Wright

My name is Jeff Wright, President of UAW Local 249 which represents approximately 3,900 hourly employees at the Ford Motor Company Kansas City Assembly Plant. We build the Ford Escape, Escape Hybrid, and Mercury Mariner compact sport utility vehicles, and the Ford F-150 pickup truck.

For years, the Kansas City Assembly Plant has been recognized as one of the most efficient producers of high quality vehicles in North America. As UAW members we're proud of the work we do and the fine vehicles we produce.

In exchange for a fair day's work, we demand a voice in the decisions that affect our lives. We insist on a safe and healthful workplace with decent working conditions, job security, a decent standard of living that reflects the value we produce, and a secure retirement.

Our members also support the rights of all workers to organize. We work to protect working families throughout society — not just those who carry UAW membership cards. While the specific issues vary from time to time and place to place, we have never wavered as champions of unity over division, equality over privilege, justice over oppression, and social and economic progress over the status quo.