Ford unveils new engine amid United Way euphoria
“High performance in a compact package,” describes Ford’s new built-in-Windsor 7.3-litre engine and its Windsor workforce, which consistently clocks in as the biggest per-capita United Way giver. The parallel was raised during a special dual ceremony on Thursday at Ford’s Annex off Seminole Street, where Ford and Unifor officials, surrounded by a team of volunteer canvassers, announced that $562,693 had been raised this year for United Way, $14,000 more than last year.
During the same event, they offered a first look at the powerful new engine currently being put through test production runs in the completely revamped Annex facility, where a yet-to-be-determined number of workers will be ramping up to full production in the coming year.
“The 7.3 is expected to be the most powerful gas V8 in its class, providing durability, ease of maintenance, and all the towing and payload capabilities our customers want,” Tony Savoni, site manager for Ford operations in Windsor, told the audience.
“Team, you continue to demonstrate a collective commitment to the community through our strong partnership with United Way, just as you continue to display unmatched levels of hard work and professionalism on this new engine program and everything else we do on this site.”
The donation brings the total raised for the United Way’s $5.4-million campaign to just over $4.4 million, with several months to go. Automaker FCA and its employees have pledged $1.25 million.
But on a per-worker basis, the Ford team — comprised of the company, managers, Unifor union members and workers with Voith Industrial Services and Penske Logistics — consistently has the highest per-capita giving in the region, said United Way CEO Lorraine Goddard.
United Way helps more than 53,000 people, thanks to the generosity of donors like Ford and Unifor members, she said.
“It is truly in your heart.” The new engine is part of a $613-million investment commitment made by Ford during 2016 contract negotiations with Unifor. One year ago, the Ford United Way announcement was made in the Annex building that was basically an empty shell. Today it’s a high-tech wonder with gleaming production lines.
Savoni told reporters Ford expects a summer launch of the engine, which will go into 2020 model vehicles. Though the engines were on full display, he declined to provide any specifics on its features, or how many engines will be produced. Employment numbers are still undetermined, he said. Currently there’s a full machining shift working at the plant and about half a shift of production workers. When the new engine is at full production within the year, there will be two production shifts and three machining shifts, he said.
The plant, located at the south end of the Windsor Engine Plant property off Seminole Street, is currently doing “burst runs” of engine production to test all the equipment, he said.
“We have sealing equipment, we have fastening equipment, we have in-process testing. So, basically, it allows us to verify the equipment is ready to go.”
He said there are currently no layoffs among the Ford Windsor workforce. New workers needed for the Annex operation can be pulled from the hundreds of Windsor Ford workers who, facing layoff years ago, transferred to Ford’s Oakville operation.
“A lot of them have been gone since ’08, so 10 years they have been transferring back and forth, coming home to see their families on weekends,” said Local 200 president John Dagnolo. “There are quite a few who have done that, so it will be nice to see them all back.”
Dagnolo, who once worked at the long-closed GM Trim plant on Lauzon Road, said the Ford investment is a stark contrast to GM’s planned closure of its Oshawa plant and shifting production to lower-wage places like Mexico. “Ford has looked at the people who are buying their vehicles, where their profits are coming from (the U.S. and Canada), and Ford is reinvesting,” he said. “Unfortunately, GM is going to other parts of the world to build their product so they can pay a worker $2 an hour.”
In responding to Unifor’s claims as it fights the closure, GM has denied that any jobs are moving to Mexico, and asserts that production at its Ingersoll CAMI plant, where it continues to produce more than 210,000 vehicles annually, is “roughly the same as our to- tal (Canadian) retail sales in 2018.” Unifor’s Dagnolo told the crowd on Thursday that Ford’s decision to invest in Windsor was a recognition that the productivity and quality of the Windsor workforce is second to none. “Because of you, we have a new product,” he said.
He later said his membership’s dedication to the United Way is absolutely amazing. United Way board chairman Matt Brannagan said Ford considers itself a neighbour, and that giving to United Way is simply neighbour helping neighbour. “It’s a sign of the company, it’s a sign of the effort of the canvassers, and the people giving. It’s also a sign of the economy in Windsor,” he said of the fundraising total. “We’ve been doing pretty good in recent years.”
Goddard said United Way focuses on such local initiatives as: mental health counselling, seeing 1,200 people a year with a zero wait list; child and youth programs to address the fact this region has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada; food banks and food programs to ensure basic needs are met; and highly successful neighbourhood renewal projects in four core areas.