Five plants, 12,000-plus staff slashed by Ford

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OAKVILLE, Ont. — The ford plant here is among the five to close as the troubled automaker looks to trim 12,000 jobs and a nameplate once the near pinnacle of luxury: the Lincoln Continental.

In addition, plants in St. Louis, Edison, N.J., Avon Lake, Ohio, and Cuautitlan, Mexico, will fall in the coming months, while the Continental will be joined in the automotive afterlife by Mercury’s Cougar Villager minivan.

None of the plant closings are immediate, in part because the automaker must give one year’s notice under its contract with the Canadian Auto Workers union and will have to negotiate the U.S. plant closings with the United Auto Workers union.

Buzz Hargrove, president of CAW, says Ford plans to cut one million units off its total production capacity as part of the plan.

“Their argument is they need to cut one million units throughout Ford Motor Co., and everyone knows that’s a lot of jobs,” says Hargrove after a closed-door meeting with Ford executives in Windsor, Ont., earlier this week. “We’re frustrated, we’re angry.”

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