Ford Motor Company will close an engine plant in Romeo, Michigan, as part of the proposed tentative agreement reached with the United Automobile Workers union (UAW).
The plant will close if the UAW-Ford Council and rank-and-file members approve the contract.
The news comes one day after the union and automaker reached a proposed tentative agreement, which still has to be voted on by the national council to become an official tentative agreement and then ratified by 55,000 Ford-UAW workers.
According to sources, the 600 employees who work at the engine plant will be offered jobs at the Ford Van Dyke Transmission Plant, which is located about 14 miles away. Workers can also take buyout packages and retire.
Sources say no other plants will close under the proposed contract.
The union began negotiations on Monday with Ford for a new contract. There has been no work stoppage with Ford employees, a stark contrast to the 40-day work stoppage General Motors employees wagered last month.
Plant closings were a major issue between GM and the UAW after the company announced it would close four plants this year. Those plants included Warren (Michigan) Transmission, Lordstown, Ohio Assembly and Detroit Hamtramck Assembly.
Detroit Hamtramck will remain open, building all-electric trucks and vans. Hundreds of workers in Lordstown had to move to seven other states to continue working for GM. Workers in Warren have transferred to Flint and other plants in distant cities.
The Ford UAW Council will travel to Detroit from 18 states and will vote whether to send the Tentative Agreement to the rank and file tomorrow. Then, 55,000 Ford workers will have about a week to vote yes or no through their local unions in those 18 states.
This story was originally published by Jim Kiertzner on WXYZ in Detroit.
