UAW Cites Jobs Threat in Ford’s EV Plans

The United Auto Workers union tells Reuters it has begun discussions with Ford Motor Co. about averting layoffs as the carmaker ramps up its plans for electric vehicles.

On Tuesday CEO Jim Hackett told investors that EVs would cut “hours per unit” assembly time by 30%. Faster assembly rates, made possible by the simpler nature of electric powertrains, equates to fewer factory workers. Hackett says the company will debut 20 battery or fuel cell electric vehicles worldwide by 2023.

UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles, who heads the union’s Ford department, tells Reuters that the company has agreed to involve workers in discussions about how job needs will change as the company electrifies more models.

The same issues will apply to all other carmakers that have declared plans to hike EV production dramatically in five years. Plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars currently are more expensive to make, mainly because of the current high cost of their batteries.

Daimler AG, for one, warned last month that it might offset those costs by outsourcing more production work to suppliers. The company is planning to add more than 50 electrified models by 2022.