Ford, Visteon OK Tentative Deals With UAW

DEARBORN, Mich. September 16, 2003; John Porretto writing for the AP reported that the United Auto Workers announced late Monday it had reached a tentative agreement with Ford, leaving General Motors as the only Big Three automaker still in labor talks with the union.

Details of the tentative deal with Ford, and a settlement with Chrysler announced earlier in the day, weren't released.

Union representatives had earlier told their members they were close to new labor agreements with Ford and GM but said that difficult issues remained.

"We're proud of the agreement, and we're satisfied that it's a good agreement that addresses the needs of our membership," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said at a media briefing at Ford's headquarters in this Detroit suburb.

The union and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group announced early Monday, just after midnight, that they had reached a tentative, four-year contract.

"It was a long set of negotiations, but well worth it, and I'm very proud of our entire team," said Bill Ford Jr., chairman and chief executive of Ford. "They did a wonderful job."

Along with the agreement with Ford, the union said it had reached a labor lead with auto supplier Visteon.

The Big Three and UAW began talks on new labor pacts in mid-July, but GM and Ford were unable to reach resolutions before contracts expired at Sunday's midnight deadline. The UAW, Ford and Visteon had agreed to a three-day extension so they could keep negotiating.

The union has said workers for GM will report to work as usual while negotiations continue. The UAW had hoped to reach simultaneous pacts with the Big Three as well as Visteon and supplier Delphi Corp.

Early Monday, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the Chrysler deal contains what the union hopes to see in the other contracts. The pact covers wages and benefits for 63,000 active workers and another 66,000 retirees and surviving spouses.

The Ford pact covers about 93,000 active workers and another 105,000 retirees.

The UAW and the Big Three, along with Delphi and Visteon, have been meeting at times late into the night since mid-July, negotiating issues such as wages, jobs, health care and pensions that affect 300,000 workers and nearly a half-million retirees and their spouses.

Some analysts and labor experts have said the new pacts likely will reflect the automakers' troubles, and include compromises in areas such as wage and pension increases.

Gettelfinger has insisted the union would not retreat on health care benefits, so some analysts said negotiators were likely to reach agreements that would give automakers more flexibility in plant closings in exchange for continued low-cost medical coverage.

On Monday, Goldman Sachs analyst Gary Lapidus predicted the Chrysler pact -- which the union planned as a model for the others -- is largely "status quo."

"Labor likely gives up job protection for the union, but in return maintains gold-plated benefits and job security for the existing actives and retirees," Lapidus wrote in a research report.

"In return, the automakers can increase productivity by 'riding the labor attrition curve' and can close selected plants as able through regular and approved early retirement programs," he said.

The current contracts, negotiated in 1999 during the term of Gettelfinger's predecessor, included 3 percent annual pay hikes, a ban on plant closings and nearly cost-free health care for workers.