At about 6:35 p.m. local time (2235 GMT), the union ordered 8,700 workers to strike at Ford's highly profitable plant in Kentucky where Ford's Super Duty trucks and a pair of large SUVs, the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator, are produced, the news outlet said.

This is the third time the union has escalated the strike and the first time it has expanded the action without any public warning in advance, with its fight against the Big Three automakers in the U.S. entering day 27.

The UAW strike against the Big Three has resulted in thousands of layoffs at the automakers and their suppliers and some 5.5 billion dollars in economic losses to workers, automakers, suppliers, dealers and consumers, local media reported.

The UAW announced the strike at three select factories of Ford, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis on September 14, after its contract with the Big Three expired.

It spread the strike to 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers around the country on September 22, following a failure to make meaningful progress in new contract negotiations. It further spread to GM and Ford SUV assembly plants on September 29.

The UAW represents roughly 146,000 workers from the Big Three. By midday Wednesday, about 25,300 UAW workers were on strike nationwide. ■