German union IG Metall and Ford (F.N) have agreed to slash the number of jobs at a plant in Saarlouis by about 3,500 after production of the Ford Focus stops there next year, the union said on Wednesday.
In a blow to Germany's economy and prestige as a carmaking hub, the plant's future was thrown into doubt in June 2022 when Ford decided to assemble its next-generation electric vehicle in Spain, not Saarlouis, which has some 4,500 employees.
The union said around 1,000 jobs at the plant would be retained after 2025, adding there would be no forced redundancies until 2032 and that employees could leave early with an attractive and well-funded severance deal.
"We could not achieve the best solution so we decided to make do with the second-best option: to make job cuts as expensive as possible for Ford," said Joerg Koehlinger, district manager of IG Metall Mitte.
In October, talks between Ford and a potential investor in the plant fell through.
