IL HR0783

Between 2012 and 2014, more than 1,500 female workers at Ford Motor Company production plants nationwide were subjected to sexual harassment and sexual abuse by Ford management and United Auto Workers Union officials, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case.

Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and Chicago Stamping Plant had particularly severe harassment environments, with reports of women being pressured to trade sexual favors for overtime pay and experiencing graphic sexual descriptions from coworkers.

Union representatives at Ford's Chicago plants dismissed sexual harassment complaints from women, claiming incidents were not harassment because they occurred "one time" or attributing the behavior to the perpetrator having "no filter."

The United Auto Workers Union is accused of violating federal labor law by failing to protect members from harassment and of gross financial corruption among upper-level officials who accepted payments from auto companies.

The resolution urges the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Illinois Department of Human Rights, and U.S. Department of Labor to investigate the harassment culture within the UAW and provide support to affected Ford workers.