CHICAGO | The Ford Chicago Assembly Plant has been removed from the company's list of facilities that are cutting production to a single-shift schedule.

In March, Ford announced a tentative plan to cut one shift at the assembly plant as a way to balance production and consumer demand. Sales of the Ford Taurus, the Ford Taurus X and the Mercury Sable built at the plant have been lackluster.

The shift reduction was to take place some time after the launch of the 2009 Lincoln MKS, which has been added to the lineup of vehicles being produced at the 126th Street and Torrence Avenue facility. The plant began building the MKS in May.

Ford spokeswoman Mary Ann Gattari said Monday the plant will remain on two shifts because of the local competitive operating agreement approved by UAW Local 551 on May 24.

"It has good competitive elements that made a strong case for staying on two shifts," she said. "Hats off to the local union leadership. They and their members should be commended."

However, production at the plant still will be cut to meet consumer demand, she said.

"It will be done through various other capacity actions, but not every operating pattern has been finalized," Gattari said.

George Pippas, Ford's sale analyst manager, who is scheduled to announce May sales figures today, said "basically sales of the larger cars like the Taurus and the Sable and the Taurus X have been off sharply this year and even through last year. "Not just Ford, but industrywide," he said Monday, adding sales of the Taurus to retail customers fell 22 percent during the first four months of 2008 compared to the same period last year.

One method to cut the plant's production would be through the reduction of its line speed, the hourly rate of vehicle production. Line speed is being reduced to 40 jobs per hour from 50 jobs per hour in the coming months, plant manager Anthony Hoskins said in a May 27 bulletin to employees.

The plant also will stop production during scheduled down weeks, Gattari said.

The newly approved operating agreement also allows the plant to operate on a four-day, 10-hour-per-day schedule, which will cut its utility costs but, by itself, won't reduce its work force of about 2,300 hourly employees.

The local agreement, which passed by a vote of 1,005 to 565, "allows us to keep people out of the (Guaranteed Employment Numbers ) job security program," Gattari said. The GEN program keeps laid off workers on Ford's payroll for up to 48 weeks, or longer under certain conditions, and grants at least 85 percent of their regular pay.

Gattari said she doesn't know how the plant's temporary part-time employees will be affected by the methods the company will use to slash production.

There are more than 600 part-time employees working at the assembly plant. They are members of the UAW and were allowed to vote on the local operating agreement.

Those workers are paid about half the rate of full-time workers, have reduced benefits, and don't participate in the company's job security program.