Ford, UAW reach deal on a 4-year contract

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. will pay its U.S. factory workers a $6,000 signing bonus and add thousands of U.S. factory jobs as part of a four-year contract deal reached Tuesday with the United Auto Workers union.

Ford plans to add 5,750 U.S. factory jobs under the deal, on top of 6,250 it announced earlier this year, for a total of 12,000 jobs by 2015. It also pledged to invest $4.8 billion in its U.S. factories.

The deal is subject to a vote by Ford's workers, probably next week.

If they agree to the contract, 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. The GM agreement also gives most workers profit-sharing payments instead of annual raises. Ford's agreement was expected to follow that pattern.

John Fleming, Ford vice president of manufacturing, said most of the 5,750 additional hires would be paid a lower wage than Ford's older workers. That is expected to lower Ford's labor costs, which are the highest in the U.S. auto industry. Ford currently pays most of its workers $58 per hour in combined wages and benefits.

Fleming said the $4.8 billion in investments was in addition to $1.4 billion previously announced, for a total of $6.2 billion in investments over the life of the contract.

There is some anger among union members about chief executive officer Alan Mulally's $26.5 million pay package last year, and many Ford workers feel the company is healthy enough to offer annual raises and other benefits. Ford earned $6.6 billion last year.

UAW leaders said the contract kept Ford's costs and prices competitive but increased profit sharing.

"UAW members sacrificed when the company was struggling and now will share in Ford's prosperity," UAW vice president Jimmy Settles said in a statement.

Up next is Chrysler Group L.L.C., where the talks could be more contentious. The company isn't making as much money as Ford and GM and probably can't afford the same deals.