The Kentucky autoworkers, who want to join the United Auto Workers, filed for a union election Tuesday, a key development in the union’s campaign to organize Southern auto-factories and EV battery facilities.

The United Auto Workers union is petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election at a Kentucky battery plant run by a Ford Motor joint venture, the union said in a release Wednesday.

The United Automobile Workers union asked a federal labor regulator to conduct an election at a factory Ford jointly owns with a South Korean battery company.

In the latest well-publicized story of EV electronic door handle failures, an incident involving a Ford Mustang Mach-E and an infant passenger trapped inside gained enough online traction for Ford's Product Communications Director to step in and handle the situation.

Both AAA and Ford Roadside Assistance were reportedly unable to open the vehicle, with the owner saying he had to break a window to extract his child.

Ford announced that sales of its electric Mustang Mach-E surpassed those of its traditional Mustang in 2024 – a notable milestone for the Detroit automaker in a challenging EV market.