Ford to add more than 6,000 US jobs as it ramps up production of electric vehicles | Daily News Byte

Ford Motor it said Thursday it will add about 6,200 union jobs in the Midwest as it remodels three factories to build new electric and gas-powered models, including a new version of the seventh-generation Mustang coupe.

Investments in the factory, expected to cost $3.7 billion, will go toward retooling plants to produce a new commercial electric vehicle and all-new gas-powered versions of the Ford Mustang and Ford Ranger. Ford will also add workers to increase production of Ford Transit commercial vans and the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup.

The company did not provide any details about the new electric commercial vehicle, other than to say that its production will begin in the “mid-decade” at an existing plant in Ohio.

In addition to the new jobs, nearly 3,000 temporary factory employees will be converted to full-time hourly employees ahead of schedule negotiated with the United Auto Workers, said Kumar Galhotra, president of “Ford Blue” internal-combustion which is the company’s business, in a media briefing.

All those employees will receive immediate wage increases and health care benefits, Galhotra said.

As a result of talks with the UAW, Ford said it would also spend $1 billion over the next five years on workplace improvements at US factories, including better lighting in parking lots and more food options in cafeterias.

The wins for the union come as many US companies struggle to hire workers and as inflation fuels Americans’ uncertainty about their finances.

It’s unusual for a Detroit automaker to make significant concessions to UAW-represented workers outside of the contract renewal process, which happens every four. year. The current labor agreement between Ford and the UAW is not up for renewal until September 2023.

The moves may be intended to ease union concerns about two large new Ford electric-vehicle factory campuses, in Kentucky and Tennessee, which may not have UAW representation. Both states are so-called right-to-work states and Ford said it will allow its hourly workers in those states to choose whether they want to be represented by a union.