$900M investment, 200 more jobs planned at Ford Chicago plant in deal

Nov. 12, 2015 – Ford Motor Co. would invest $900 million in its assembly plant on Chicago’s South Side and create about 200 new jobs under a tentative labour agreement between the automaker and United Auto Workers.

The Mautomaker would employ 4,600 workers at the Chicago Assembly Plant to support production of the Explorer, Police Interceptor, Taurus and a new vehicle to be named later, The (Munster) Times reports. The plant in the Hegewisch neighbourhood also makes the Lincoln MKS, which is being phased out next year.

The four-year agreement approved by union leadership now goes to union members for ratification through Wednesday. The contract includes worker incentives that would lead to an estimated $54 million going immediately into the local economy.

The $900 million investment would be more than double the $400 million spent to modernize the 91-year-old plant in 2010 so it could make the Explorer. The SUV is credited with a turnaround at the plant, with employment growing from 3,200 workers in 2011 to 4,400 today.

— With files from The Associated Press