This page chronicles main events in the development of the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky, including the unionization effort at the facility. Updates will be added as future events unfold. Last updated August 8, 2025.
Timeline
- May 20, 2021: Ford and South Korean energy company SK Innovation sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint venture to manufacture battery cells and arrays in the US.
- September 27, 2021: Ford and SK Innovation announce Glendale, KY as the site of a planned “BlueOval SK Battery Park,” consisting of twin manufacturing facilities (later deemed “Kentucky 1” and “Kentucky 2”) that will produce batteries for future Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. The two facilities are expected to employ 5,000 workers. The $5.8 billion project is the “single-largest economic development investment in state history,” according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.
- September 29, 2021: Reuters reports that “[Ford’s North American chief operating officer] was quick to add, however, that Ford is the largest employer of UAW-represented employees in the United States and that it has asked SK not to take an anti-union stance when it comes to the joint-venture battery plants to be built in Tennessee and Kentucky.” Later in September 2022 Ford similarly tells WDRB “that the company is ‘neutral’ as to whether battery plants like BlueOval SK unionize.”
- October 1, 2021: SK Innovation officially spins off “SK On” as a wholly-owned battery technology subsidiary.
- Spring 2022: Site preparation work begins at the future BlueOval SK (BOSK) Battery Park in Glendale, KY.
- July 13, 2022: Ford and SK On officially establish joint venture, BlueOval SK. “The two companies will hold equal ownership in the new venture and the JV will be a consolidated subsidiary of SK On. The board of directors consists of six members, three from each company,” according to the announcement.
- December 5, 2022: BlueOval SK officially “breaks ground” on BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, KY.
- February 2023: Construction begins on the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC) BlueOval SK Training Center, which is located adjacent to the BOSK plant in Glendale, KY.
- July 28, 2023: BlueOval SK begins hiring hourly positions at BlueOval SK Battery Park.
- September 15, 2023: The United Auto Workers (UAW) launches a historic strike against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
- October 11, 2023: BlueOval SK announces raises to starting wage rates for hourly workers at its Glendale, KY battery facilities.
- October 27, 2023: BlueOval SK announces that production at Kentucky 2, originally projected to start in 2026, would be postponed indefinitely, though construction will continue.
- February 1, 2024: BlueOval SK acknowledges an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation at the site in Glendale, KY regarding reports of significant mold exposure among workers employed by construction companies working on site.
- May 9, 2024: ECTC BlueOval SK Training Center completes construction.
- June 3, 2024: ECTC BlueOval SK Training Center officially begins onboarding training for BlueOval SK workers. (Training had previously been provided to workers at other ECTC facilities.)
- August 18, 2024: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says during a national television appearance that “when the Ford SK plants open, that won’t be union labor because of an agreement reached between Ford and the UAW.” A local UAW spokesperson says the UAW “plan to organize the BlueOval SK facility.”
- November 5, 2024: The United Auto Workers (UAW) files an unfair labor practice charge alleging that management at BOSK discharged a worker for union activities or sympathies.
- November 20, 2024: The UAW announces that a supermajority of the hourly workers at the BlueOval SK battery plant in Kentucky have signed union authorization cards.
- November 21, 2024: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says, “It did start out non-union. It’s not unionized at the moment and they have 750 employees. That doesn’t prevent the normal process, which is going on here of potential unionization.” Beshear continued, “I am a pro-union governor and always will be. My hope is the companies that are involved will stay neutral and let this be a true decision of the employees.”
- December 5, 2024: Management at BOSK announce wage hikes starting Jan. 1, 2025.
- December 16, 2024: U.S. Department of Energy finalizes a $9.6 billion loan to BlueOval SK for the construction of Kentucky 1 and Kentucky 2, as well as a battery plant in Tennessee.
- December 17, 2024: BlueOval workers allege there is a “broken safety culture” at the battery facility in Kentucky in a Courier Journal op-ed. Subsequently, management at BOSK issue a statement in January 2025 that “…BlueOval SK always prioritizes safety.”
- December 28, 2024: Management at BOSK begin posting paid anti-union ads and videos online. The volume and anti-union tone of the content rises after UAW files an election petition on January 7, 2025. [On December 28, 2024 BOSK management begins placing paid anti-union ads on Youtube and Google searches. On January 3, 2025 BOSK management begins posting videos on the official BOSK YouTube channel. On January 10, 2025 BOSK management begins running paid videos and posts on Facebook and Instagram.]
- January 7, 2025: UAW files a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union election at BlueOval SK battery plant in Kentucky. In a statement, BlueOval SK calls the petition “premature” and argues that “…The UAW is trying to rush BlueOval SK into unionization before our full workforce has the opportunity to make a truly free and informed choice.” Management at BOSK retains the firm Frost Brown Todd, which offers “Union Avoidance / Campaigns” services that, among other things, “make it easier to fight a union campaign.” [It is unclear whether BOSK management retained Frost Brown Todd prior to the petition filing.]
- January 28, 2025: NLRB holds a hearing with UAW and management of BlueOval SK regarding the UAW’s petition for a union election.
- January 31, 2025: An individual files an unfair labor practice allegation with the NLRB against management at BOSK.
- February 10, 2025: The UAW files an unfair labor practice allegation with the NLRB alleging that management at BOSK destroyed union materials displayed in non-work areas and threatened to close the facility if the employees support unionization.
- March 5, 2025: The UAW files an unfair labor practice allegation with the NLRB alleging that management at BOSK fired worker(s) for union activities/sympathies and who also provided testimony to the NLRB.
- June 26, 2025: NLRB Regional Director orders an “immediate election,” rejecting arguments to dismiss the petition or delay the election. The specifics of the election will be announced in a forthcoming Notice of Election.
- June 30, 2025: the Regional Director approves the UAW’s request to “block” the election until the NLRB investigates three unfair labor practice charges filed by the UAW against BOSK in November 2024, February 2025, and March 2025, according to a court filing by BOSK and a court document we secured through a public records request. The UAW argues that the NLRB should investigate BOSK “for violating federal labor law before it sets the date for an election to ensure a fair and democratic vote — one free from illegal employer intimidation, retaliation, and coercion.”
- July 2, 2025: management at BOSK files a request to unblock the election or, alternatively, hold the election and impound the ballots, according to a court document we secured through a public records request. On July 9, the Regional Director sent the Blocking Letter, rejecting BOSK’s request to unblock the election and putting the election in abeyance pending the Region’s investigations into the unfair labor practice charges, according to an additional document we secured through a public records request.
- July 2, 2025: The UAW files two separate unfair labor practice allegations with the NLRB against management at BOSK, including one alleging that management at BOSK discharged a worker for supporting the union and another alleging that management required employees to attend a captive audience meeting wherein workers were told to vote against the union.
- July 23, 2025: management at BOSK files a request for review (i.e. an appeal of the Regional Director’s decision) with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to unblock the election, according to a court filing.
- July 25, 2025: the UAW withdraws its request to block the election, which is approved by the Regional Director on July 29, according to a court document we secured through a public records request.
- July 29, 2025: management at BOSK withdraws their request for review, stating that they have learned the UAW is seeking to withdraw its prior request to block the election and that the Regional Director will schedule an election, according to court filings.
- July 31, 2025: the Regional Director issues a notice that the union election for the BOSK facility in Glendale, Kentucky will be held on August 26 and 27, 2025.