The Ford Motor Company has announced it will lay off about one-thousand workers at its Hazelwood assembly plant near St. Louis. An agreement had been reached to prevent Ford from shutting down the facility, altogether. At that time, Ford said it would keep the plant open but would have to cut several positions. It’s now informed the workers that the afternoon shift will be eliminated effective April 26th. The Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, and Lincoln Aviator SUVs are made at the plant, which currently empoys about 2,650 people.