Ford has put construction of its $3.5 billion Michigan battery and electric vehicle factory on hold as the United Auto Workers (UAW) union continues to hold strikes at the 3 major US automakers General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis. Putting the factory on hold is a blatant anti-strike gesture, amounting to little more than posturing from Ford, as if it was really delaying the project significantly it would lose out to competitors that come online more quickly like Tesla. Still, it’s worth looking at this as one of the problems the West in particular will have to deal with considering its large incumbent automotive workforce. A simple fact of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing is that it requires far fewer people…