UAW dashes hopes for early deal with Big Three

DETROIT, Sept 13 Michael Ellis writing for Reuters reported that the United Auto Workers union said on Saturday it faced many obstacles to reaching a new contract agreement with Detroit's automakers, dashing hopes for an early deal with all three companies before the midnight Sunday deadline.

"There's a lot of work to be done with all of the companies," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told reporters at a Detroit labor festival. "Believe me, we wish that we were closer than where we are, but we have a lot of obstacles to overcome."

He said he still hoped to have an agreement with "at least one" of the companies by the deadline. But his comments signaled the negotiations had hit more than one stumbling block since Friday, when a union official close to the talks said an early agreement with all three automakers seemed possible.

Gettelfinger, who took over the union last year, denied widespread reports that the union wanted to achieve a historic first -- a simultaneous deal with all three automakers before the strike deadline.

But company and union officials have said for days that the union was pressing to reach such a deal and wrap up talks before the deadline.

The UAW's current four-year contracts with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler AG, affect roughly 760,000 current and retired autoworkers.

The contract talks also cover auto parts suppliers Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp., former units of General Motors and Ford before they were spun off several years ago.

UNION PICKS LEAD COMPANY

In his remarks to reporters, Gettelfinger said for the first time that he had selected a "lead company" in the talks.

The union's traditional practice is to pick just one company for intensified negotiations ahead of the deadline. A deal with the "target company" would then be used as a pattern for further negotiations with the other car companies.

"I chose a lead company right after Labor Day," Gettelfinger said, declining to identify the company.

Officials at each of Detroit's automakers said negotiations were continuing at their companies on Saturday, as the clock ticked toward the expiration of their current contracts.

"Talks are continuing and we're still moving toward the Sept. 14 deadline," GM spokesman Tom Wickham told Reuters.

The contract negotiations will impact the competitive position of the U.S. automakers for much of the next decade.

Ford was expected to pursue plant closings and job cuts in the talks, GM was expected to press for help in controlling massive pension and health-care costs and Chrysler wanted UAW approval to sell or close several of its parts plants.

The Big Three's U.S. market share hit an all-time low in August of 57.9 percent, when Toyota passed Chrysler in sales for the first time, down from about 74 percent just 10 years ago. The U.S. automakers also face the expense of escalating incentives, shrinking profits and mounting health care and pension costs.

Gettelfinger said the union would fight to retain or improve its generous health care benefits.

The UAW's current contracts were signed in 1999 when the companies were coming off record profits. They include a ban on plant closings that is expected to be at least partially lifted under a new labor agreement.

(Additional reporting by Tom Brown)