Production resumes at Ford Genk

Production has resumed at the Ford factory in Genk today after a four-month stoppage, due chiefly to worker unrest. Ford said in October that it would shut its Genk plant and transfer the manufacturing of about 120,000 cars a year to a plant in Valencia, Spain, resulting in the loss of about 4,300 jobs by the end of next year. A majority of employees paid by the hour have voted in favour of a union deal that allows Ford to go through with the cuts, meaning the US carmaker can soon start building around 800 cars in two-shift operations every day at the plant. “We fully recognise that this has been a difficult time for everyone at the Ford Genk plant, our suppliers and the local community,” said Philippe Verbeeck, operations manager at Ford Genk. Ford said the move was an “important step towards rebuilding dealer stocks” and reaffirmed its plan to continue making cars in Genk until the end of next year, as long as “a return to normal working is achieved”. “We have agreed on 400 vehicles to be made per shift, which amounts to 800 vehicles per day,” announced Eddie Martens of the CSC union.

(Reuters, Belga)