JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Gov. Jay Nixon said the tentative agreement reached between Ford and the United Auto Workers would provide a significant boost to Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant and Missouri’s economy. Under the agreement, Ford would provide a $8,500 ratification bonus and $1,500 in profit sharing to every employee by the end of the year and invest an additional $200 million on the F-150 and Transit lines, in addition to securing existing jobs at the plant. In total, the deal would inject an additional $75 million into local communities before the end of the year.
The Kansas City Assembly Plant, following a $1.1 billion investment by Ford, now has the largest capacity to build vehicles of any Ford plant in the world. Employing more than 7,000 workers, the Kansas City Assembly Plant also has one of the largest hourly workforces in the Ford network.
“This agreement will provide a major boost to Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant and the thousands of dedicated Missourians who work there,” Gov. Nixon said. “I thank the UAW and Ford for working together to bring additional investment to Kansas City and put more money in the pockets of the hardworking men and women who build these next-generation vehicles right here in the heartland.”
The Tentative Agreement was approved by local union leaders on the UAW National Ford Council on Monday and will now go before all UAW Ford members for a final vote.
The continued growth of Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, once thought to be at risk of closure, is one of the signature achievements of Gov. Nixon’s administration. Gov. Nixon travelled to Detroit repeatedly to meet with Ford executives and in the summer of 2010 he called the General Assembly into a special session to pass the Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act, legislation that resulted in the revival of Missouri’s auto industry.
As a result of these efforts, automotive manufacturers and suppliers have invested $2 billion in Missouri over the last five years. Expansions by automakers have led to increased demand for automotive parts, strengthening Missouri’s automotive supplier network and providing a significant boost to the state’s economy. Since 2010, some 61 automotive suppliers have added or announced plans to add more than 4,619 new jobs, retain 220 existing workers, and make more than $613 million in capital investments.
Experience Missouri’s automotive industry comeback by viewing an online interactive timeline atgovernor.mo.gov/auto.
