Ford plans to close engine plant in Michigan as part of UAW deal

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (N:) plans to close an engine plant in Romeo, Michigan as part of a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union for a new four-year contract, a source told Reuters Thursday.

The 600 hourly workers at the plant will be offered jobs at a nearby transmission plant or buyouts, a source said. The UAW said Wednesday the Ford deal “secured over $6 billion in major product investments in American facilities, creating and retaining over 8,500 jobs for our communities.”

Ford is not immediately closing the plant but will close it at a future date under the UAW agreement. Ford and the UAW declined to comment.

In contrast to Ford, General Motors Co (NYSE:) endured a 40-day-strike by its U.S. hourly workforce that cost it about $3 billion before winning approval for a new labor deal earlier this month.

Detailed terms of the Ford deal were not released, but they are expected to echo those agreed to with GM, as the union typically uses the first deal as a pattern for those that follow.

UAW leaders from the various U.S. plants will meet on Friday to approve the deal, which then will be sent to the 55,000 members at Ford for final approval, a union spokesman said.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.