Ford announced 1,200 new jobs and a second shift at its Kansas City assembly plant and said it had already met its commitment to the United Auto Workers union (UAW) to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the US by 2015.

The 1,200 jobs are on top of the 2,800 added at the factory in 2012 and 2013 ahead of the recent Transit production start and increased output of the F-150 truck.

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Since the 2011 UAW-Ford contract negotiations, the automaker has added jobs at other US plants as well, a total of 14,000. These include:

  •     3,600 at Louisville Assembly Plant
  •     1,800 at Michigan Assembly Plant
  •     1,700 at Flat Rock Assembly Plant
  •     1,600 at Chicago Assembly Plant
  •     600 at Kentucky Truck Plant
  •     450 at Cleveland Engine Plant
  •     240 at Van Dyke Transmission Plant
  •     230 at Chicago Stamping Plant

“The job growth we have created in US manufacturing is a testament to our strong partnership with the UAW, the union’s competitiveness, and the growing demand for Ford’s portfolio of cars, utilities and trucks,” said the automaker’s Americas president Joe Hinrichs.

“I am very pleased we are able to add 1,200 new jobs [in Kansas] which will strengthen this community and continue our efforts to grow good-paying, middle-class manufacturing jobs,” said Jimmy Settles, the UAW’s vice president, National Ford Department.

“This is possible because of the collective bargaining process and the partnership between UAW and Ford.”

The Kansas plant also produces F-150 Regular Cab, SuperCab and SuperCrew pickups. The plant will employ about 6,000 hourly workers by the end of 2014, on a two-shift pattern for Transit production and three shifts for the F-150.

Ford spent US$1.1bn in 2011 to retool and expand the facility for the Transit and to support “surging” demand for the F-150, the top selling single model in the US. Expansion projects include a 437,000 sq ft stamping facility and a 78,000 sq ft paint shop.

Production of the redesigned F-150 starts early in 2015, following SOP at Dearborn Truck Plant later this year.

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