Ford workers agree to cost-cuting deal

MONTREAL: Ford workers approved a cost-cutting agreement with management that includes shutting down a manufacturing plants in Canada in 2011, a move that will cut 1,500 jobs, the Canadian Auto Workers union said Sunday.

"No one should mistake workers' approval as satisfaction with the new agreement," CAW President Ken Lewenza said after the agreement passed with 83 per cent of the vote.

"Members had faith in the union to negotiate the best agreement possible and protect their interests over the long term, but the problems faced by industry cannot be resolved at the bargaining table," Lewenza added.

Besides the loss of some 1,500 jobs at the Ford plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, that will close in the third quarter of 2011, the October 30 deal also includes a reduction in vacation, break times and co-payments on health care.

The agreement, which expires in September 2012, includes a commitment by the US automaker to keep at least 10 per cent of its North American production in Canada.

No estimates were provided on the savings the cost-cutting agreement will entail.

The deal is the second cost-cutting agreement reached between the CAW and Ford in 18 months.

Although Ford did not accept bailout money from the US government like Chrysler and General Motors did, the CAW said Ford followed the pattern set out earlier in the year by its US rivals to cut significant portions of their Canada operations as part of restructuring.

In their deals, GM and Chrysler workers accepted 16-dollars and 19-dollars-per-hour pay cuts respectively.

Chrysler and GM both filed for bankruptcy and received billions of dollars in US government aid. Canada's government also pumped billions of dollars into the companies as part of packages to keep their auto manufacturing operations here afloat.

The St. Thomas plant produces the Ford Crown Victoria -- a model routinely chosen by US police forces and New York taxis -- as well as the Mercury Grand Marquis.