DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford Motor Company has announced the addition of 1,550 new jobs, and 500 of those jobs are coming to Dearborn.
The automaker announced the new positions Wednesday saying it hopes to ramp up production of the all-new F-150.
The 500 new jobs in Dearborn will be added between Dearborn Stamping and Dearborn Diversified.
"The F-150 had its best January in over 10 years and the owners keep coming in, so as a result we need to make more of them and hire more people. It's a good day for Ford," said Bill Dirksen, vice president of labor affairs at Ford.
The remaining jobs will go to Kansas City Assembly and Sterling Axle (in Sterling Heights).
With these hires, Ford has reached its 20 percent cap for workers earning the lower end of the two-tier wage negotiated in the 2011 contract. It means 300 to 500 current workers will transition to tier 1 status, going from $19-$28 an hour to $28-$50.
"That's almost a $9-an-hour raise. Put that on top of 40 hours a week, and we're working more than that. It's a lot of income you initially didn't have. It helps your family, the economy, and it helps the morale," said Nick Kottalis, UAW 600 truck plant president.
UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said shrinking the wage gap is a high priority when national negotiations begin in March. Ford credits that two-tiered wage with 15,000 new hires since the beginning of the current contract.
"That agreement has made us more competitive in the marketplace, and that in turn has allowed us to invest in our plants, create jobs, hire people and have great announcements like we do today," said Settles.
These positions already have been filled, but for more information on Ford jobs, go here.