Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Ford Offers Bonus
(Louisville) Ford Motor Co. will pay its U.S. factory workers a $6,000 signing bonus as part of a four-year contract deal reached with the United Auto Workers union. Ford and the UAW negotiators agreed on the deal early Tuesday. Under the contract, Ford also pledged to hire 5,750 new U.S. workers and invest $4.8 billion in its factories. The deal will bring some production of the Ford Fusion sedan from Mexico to a factory in Michigan. Ford will also bring work to the U.S. from China. The signing bonus will be paid if Ford workers ratify the agreement. Votes are expected to take place next week. Ford's 41,000 hourly workers will get $1,000 more as a signing bonus than the $5,000 bonus GM workers got under an agreement ratified last month.