As many anticipated, Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached an agreement over the new four-year labor contract covering the UAW’s 41,000 members in the US.

The deal won’t take effect until it is ratified by the UAW board. This, however, is almost certain because Ford has committed to add 12,000 new hourly jobs in the US by the end of 2015 – 2,000 more than originally reported and 5,000 more than those that were supposed to be added by the end of 2012.

“We are pleased that, by working together with the UAW, we reached a deal that is fair to our employees and that improves Ford’s competitiveness in the US”, said Ford’s executive vice president of Global Manufacturing and Labor Affairs, John Flemming.

“This agreement allows us to make even more progress on our One Ford plan and our focus on the products that will deliver continued profitable growth for all.”

The new jobs will be created by shifting production from Mexico, China and Japan to the United States. This is a part of the $16 billion USD investment that Ford will make in the next four years in designing, engineering and producing more and new vehicles and components.

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