CLAYCOMO, Mo. - Ford Motor Co. said Saturday union concerns over working conditions at its assembly plant in Kansas City have been resolved. But a union officer said members were moving ahead with a planned strike authorization vote.
Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said officials from the automaker and United Auto Workers Local 249 reached an agreement late Friday on issues related to the workload at the plant.
Union leaders have said problems developed in October when Ford added a third shift, including staggered schedules. The union says the changes resulted in increased, uncompensated work since the company did not hire workers. Other union issues concern safety. The plant makes the Ford F-150 pickup and the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner SUV.
"At this point, no further action is necessary," Evans said. "The issues are resolved."
But the union was still carrying out a strike authorization vote scheduled to end late Saturday, according to Toni McCauley, financial secretary for the union.
Just as Lawrence Kazmerski, a top official at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was about to give the keynote address at the University of Minnesota's annual E3 conference at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, the lights went out, bathing the audience in darkness and a deep sense of irony.
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