UAW Grants Two Week Delay Of Strike at Ford's Chicago Plant

CHICAGO, Aug 28, 2004; Reuters reported that a proposed strike at the Ford Motor Co. stamping plant in Chicago over health and safety conditions set to begin on Saturday has been delayed for two weeks, a United Auto Workers union official said.

"There has been a two-week extension on the strike deadline," UAW Local 588 President Bill Jackson told union members in a recorded message on the office telephone. "For the members calling please report to work as scheduled."

Jackson could not be reached for comment.

The union had set the deadline for strike action at the plant, about 30 miles south of Chicago, at midnight Friday.

Anne Marie Gattari, a spokeswoman for Ford, the No. 2 automaker in the United States, declined to comment. "It's our policy not to talk about union-management matters," she said.

Details of the dispute and negotiations have been kept under wraps by tight-lipped union and Ford officials.

The plant, which employs 1,450 hourly workers and 170 salaried personnel, is key to the launch of Ford's new vehicle line-up, including a large car called the Five Hundred.

The new flagship sedan is seen as vital to Ford's efforts to improve its automotive profits.

The stamping plant makes body panels for the Five Hundred, Freestyle wagon and the Mercury Montego sedan, which are put together at Ford's Chicago assembly plant.

The Chicago stamping plant also makes various components for Ford's Ranger compact pickup truck, F-Series Super Duty truck, Taurus and Sable cars.