The recently ratified UAW contract with Ford Motor Co. will save the company $1.2 billion in cash each year and it will also reduce annual health-care expenses by about $2 billion, Ford executives told analysts and journalists during a conference call today. ?The contract terms significantly improve Ford?s competitiveness and provide the flexibility to allow the company to continue to pursue its restructuring efforts,? Ford CEO Alan Mulally said. The union and automaker, he noted, are proud of the new 4-year deal, which will keep open five plants formerly slated for closure. That includes four plants in Michigan: Wayne Stamping and Assembly, Rawsonville and Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing, Ford said.
See "UAW deal to save Ford $1.2 billion in cash, $2 billion on health care annually", Sarah A. Webster, Detroit Free Press, November 14, 2007