Business & Tech

Union President: UAW, Faurecia Reach Deal

UAW Local 892 President Mark Caruso reported to members that the union has reached a deal with Faurecia, the French auto parts giant negotiating for the Saline's ACH Plant.

In a brief note to membership Monday evening, President Mark Caruso reported the union local and reached a deal with Faurecia, the French auto parts giant negotiating for the plant in Saline.

The UAW represents more than 2,000 workers at the factory, where more than 2,300 people are employed to make interior parts for Ford vehicles.

"UAW Local 892 and Faurecia reach a tentative agreement today," wrote Caruso in the Digital News release. "The leadership at Local 892 will be meeting with the International UAW to schedule an informational meeting, ratification date and time."

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Calls and e-mail to officials at the UAW and Faurecia were not returned Monday night.

Last week, what many have known , when it confirmed the company was negotiating for the Saline facility.

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""Faurecia is exploring the acquisition of the Saline, Michigan, interior components plant operated by Automotive Components Holdings, LLC," said Stacie Tong, director of communications for Faurecia North America. "Faurecia is in negotiations with a number of parties, including Ford and the UAW, regarding the future of the Saline plant and will issue further statements if and when the status of these negotiations changes."

ACH is a Ford Motor Company business comprising parts plants that Ford wishes to sell.

Ford spokesperson Della DiPietro said Ford continues to be focused on selling the plant.

"We are working toward a sale of the Saline plant, as we have been since 2005 when ACH was formed," said Ford spokesperson Della DiPietro, last week.

On Aug. 2, 2011, Faurecia entered a Memorandum of Understanding with Automotive Component Holding LLC to purchase the Saline plant.

Previously, the union has said that once a tentative agreement is reached, there will be a transition period for all UAW members that will not be employed by Faurecia. The length of any transition period and any potential options that may be available was to be discussed during the course of negotiations, according to the UAW.

In recent months, UAW workers at ACH have applied for transfers to Ford factories in and out of state.

Ford has a long history in Saline. Ford founder Henry Ford bought Schuyler’s Mill in 1937, now the site of , and the mill become one of Ford’s famous “little industry” factories. Workers processed soybeans and used the oils for plastics and paint. The plant closed in 1947. In 1966, Ford Motor Co. moved a parts plant from Brooklyn to Saline. In 2000, the plant became a Visteon plant. In 2005, facing bankruptcy, Visteon transferred ownership of the factory back to Ford, which spun off the parts plant as ACH. In 2007, ACH announced it had reached a deal to sell the Saline plant to Johnson Controls, but the deal fell through.

The  also has keen interest in the plant. the plant is responsible for 11 percent of the city’s tax revenue—about the amount of money the city spends on its . That share of the city’s tax revenue is up from 8.5 percent as residential home values dipped.


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