United Auto Workers signs contract extension with Ford, keeps GM waiting

14 September 2007

Mumbai: The United Auto Workers union has signed a contract extension with Ford Motor Co even as local leaders with the UAW union began preparing for protests if contract talks with General Motors Corp. break down.

The agreement with Ford clears the way for union-represented workers to continue working under the terms of the company''s current four-year contract with the UAW even after it expires at midnight on Friday.

"We have agreed with the UAW to continue bargaining past the contract expiration," Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said.

"The agreement says we will continue bargaining even if we don''t have a contract by midnight, so the question of a strike doesn''t arise."

The UAW singled out the No 1 US automaker as its strike target and readied union workers for a possible strike, the UAW underscored the stakes in the negotiations at a time when market optimism has been building that the automakers would emerge with a deal to slash health-care spending.

The UAW''s lead negotiator with GM, Cal Rapson, said in an e-mailed statement to union members that the UAW had picked GM as its "strike target."