The Ford Motor Company has announced it is partially shutting down plants in a number of its North American locations, including Claycomo – near Kansas City. Claycomo’s shutdown is scheduled to last from one to three weeks, and involves one assembly line – the one on which the F-150 pickups are built. Jim Stouffer, the United Auto Workers’ union leader at the plant, says there is a glut of these vehicles on the market, and he says high gas prices might be to blame. But, there is positive news in that the Hybrid Escape is still being assembled at maximum capacity at the plant. The 2,000-plus workers who will go through a period of downtime will be paid through an agreed set-aside.
