Ford, UAW strike comprehensive deal on jobs, pay and profit

Ford Motor Co and the United Auto Workers yesterday announced a new national contract, which includes $1.1 billion in new investment and 1,600 more jobs in the Kansas City area.

The contract, on which union members would vote next week, is aimed at boosting employment at Ford's Claycomo assembly plant by more than 40 per cent, to around 5,400 workers.

A second shift would be added to the factory to make the popular Ford F-150 pickup truck and start making the European-styled Transit at full capacity, in possibly two shifts. The Transit is a full-sized van for businesses that would replace the Econoline in Ford's US lineup.

The auto major had earlier committed to a $400-million upgrade in Claycomo, and yesterday's announcement nearly triples the amount and it would finance improvements and expansion, which would include a new stamping plant to make sheet-metal parts for the Transit.

The announcement also put an end to speculation about the plant's future which started after Ford said the manufacturing of its popular Escape would move in 2012 to a plant in Louisville, Ky.

According to governor Jay Nixon, it was a historic day for Missouri.