ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS -- Ford Motor Co. said Friday it has pushed back its plans to eliminate one of its two shifts -- about 1,000 jobs -- at its St. Louis-area assembly plant.
The automaker, which said last month it would jettison the second shift at its Hazelwood plant by April 26, has not decided how long the postponement involving the afternoon shift and its estimated $60 million in payroll would last.
"It's our intention at the right time to reduce" staffing at the 50-year-old plant where the Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer and Lincoln Aviator sport-utility vehicles are made, said Anne Marie Gattari, a Ford spokeswoman.
Halving the shifts would incur additional overtime costs to meet existing demand for the SUVs made there, Gattari said.
"We'll need to continue to evaluate the situation, market demands and other business factors" before deciding when to do away with the second shift, she said from Ford's headquarters in Dearborn. "It's based on the market demand of the vehicles we built at that plant."
ST. LOUIS -- Ford Motor Co. said Friday it has pushed back its plans to eliminate one of its two shifts -- about 1,000 jobs -- at its St. Louis-area assembly plant.
The automaker, which said last month it would jettison the second shift at its Hazelwood plant by April 26, has not decided how long the postponement involving the afternoon shift and its estimated $60 million in payroll would last.
"It's our intention at the right time to reduce" staffing at the 50-year-old plant where the Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer and Lincoln Aviator sport-utility vehicles are made, said Anne Marie Gattari, a Ford spokeswoman.
Halving the shifts would incur additional overtime costs to meet existing demand for the SUVs made there, Gattari said.
"We'll need to continue to evaluate the situation, market demands and other business factors" before deciding when to do away with the second shift, she said from Ford's headquarters in Dearborn. "It's based on the market demand of the vehicles we built at that plant."