TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. said it plans to bring back to its plants nearly 2,000 union jobs that had been outsourced to suppliers in the U.S. and overseas.
The total is about 25 percent more than Ford had previously agreed to bring back in-house during its negotiations with the United Auto Workers three years ago, a reflection of the upturn in the automaker’s bottom line.
The return of the jobs is good news for the UAW, although some of the positions will pay a new wage of $14 an hour instead of the $26 an hour most UAW workers get. The company couldn’t provide a breakdown on how many would be new hires and how many of the positions would be filled by workers now on indefinite layoff.
The company is planning to bring 1,975 union jobs back into its plants by 2012, exceeding its original commitment by more than 25 percent, Mark Fields, Ford’s Americas president, announced during an automotive gathering in Traverse City on Wednesday.
The in-sourcing announcement comes as Ford finds itself balancing its ongoing profitability against the concessions it demanded from the UAW during the past three years. Ford reported a $2.7 billion profit for 2009 and has remained profitable in the first and second quarters of this year.
UAW president Bob King has already said he plans to recoup many of those concessions during the next round of contract talks, which could start as early as next year.
