The UAW will represent Mazda plant workers.

The union and Mazda management reported that they have signed a letter of intent on a labor agreement calling for American workers to be hired about a year before the car maker begins production in 1987 at its new Michigan plant. A Mazda spokesman said the firm plans to begin hiring in early 1986 for the Flat Rock, Mich., plant and will have 3,500 workers there when the $450-million facility reaches production of 20,000 cars a month by the end of 1988. The union agreed to cooperate with Mazda’s production methods and labor practices, the letter said.