Ford to Bring 1,975 UAW Workers into US Plants

American manufacturer Ford announced today it will bring in-house no less than 1,975 hourly jobs that would otherwise be filled by suppliers inside and outside of the US. All the jobs are to be added by 2012 and represents more than Ford committed to in an agreement with the United Auto Workers.

The original agreement called for 1,559 jobs to be added throughout the four-year term of the contract, but the good economic environment will allow it to add 635 people to nine of its facilities in the US, including Sharonville Transmission Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant, Chicago Stamping Plant, Sterling Plant, Van Dyke Transmission Plant and Rawsonville Plant.

Currently, the parts needed by the nine plants are being manufactured in Japan or Mexico, or have just been added to the production queue.

“Bringing these jobs to Ford’s U.S. facilities has proven to be a win-win proposition for the company and our salaried and hourly employees,” Jim Tetreault, Ford vice president, North America Manufacturing said in a statement.

“Not only are these agreements enabling us to become more cost competitive, but bringing work to our UAW work force ensures that we apply world-class quality control and improved efficiency through the rigorous processes that are part of our production system.”

The jobs created within Ford's US operations regard the production of gear machining and solenoid body assembly for the 6F35 automatic transmission, interior parts assembly for the new Ford Focus, stamped parts for the Lincoln MKS, Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer, battery pack assembly for hybrid electric vehicles.