Ford Motor Co. is discussing adding as many as 10,000 jobs in the U.S. in negotiations with the UAW on a new four-year contract. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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The job-creation discussion is part of high-level negotiations between Ford and UAW President Bob King over wages, benefits, and employment gains in the new contract and is still subject to change, said the people, who asked not to be identified revealing internal deliberations.
As many as 4,000 of those jobs may come from Ford shifting production of the Fusion midsize sedan to the U.S. from Mexico, one of the people said. The UAW may reach an agreement this week on a contract covering Ford’s 41,000 workers, Joel Goddard, co-chairman of the union’s bargaining committee said in a recorded message Sept. 26.
Another source familiar with the negotiations, however, told Automotive News today that the report of 10,000 new jobs and as many as 4,000 of those jobs coming come from Ford shifting production of the Fusion midsize sedan to the U.S. from Mexico was “not accurate.”
Ford, which earned $4.95 billion in the first half of the year, is seeking to lower labor costs in the new contract. New hires are paid about half as much as senior workers.
“Jobs have been a central goal of the union in this round of negotiations,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “Ford, which is the most advanced in its recovery, is a natural for this kind of job creation.”
General Motors Co. agreed to add or retain 6,400 jobs in a tentative agreement it reached with the UAW on Sept. 16. GM’s 48,500 hourly workers ratified that contract with 65 percent of production workers and 63 percent of skilled-trades workers voting for it, the union said today.
