* Ford contract with CAW achieves productivity gains

* Ford could hire up to 500 at lower base wage in Ontario

By David Bailey

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers will improve productivity at an Ontario plant where it builds crossovers and where it is looking to hire new workers, a senior executive said on Monday.

Ford could hire up to 500 at lower starting wages at its Oakville, Ontario, plant where it is adding a shift to produce the Flex crossover vehicle, said Joe Hinrichs, Ford's global head of manufacturing. The automaker now builds the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX at the plant.

The agreement with the CAW allows Ford to hire the new workers at the base starting wage set by the new contract, rather than a higher base starting wage under the current deal that expires in September.

"We are hiring right now to staff a third shift at Oakville once we launch the Flex," Hinrichs said in an interview.

Ford expects some workers from Windsor, Ontario, to move to the Oakville plant, where the CAW agreed to changes that create 30 more minutes of production per 24 hours, he said.

The Oakville plant has about 3,500 hourly workers. The new hires would start at 70 percent of the base rate, lower than current contract levels, and would take three years to reach a normal base rate instead of the current two years.