Ford, UAW Make Peace, Avert Strike

The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. reached a tentative agreement Saturday on a new contract, hours after a handful of workers walked off the job when a strike deadline passed.

A joint statement announcing the deal contained no details, and officials declined to provide any, pending ratification meetings.

A source close to the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agreement followed the pattern set by the UAW in deals with General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG--four-year agreements with raises of 3% each year and a signing bonus.

A union official in Tulsa, Okla., said the agreement allowed the spin-off of Visteon Automotive Systems, Ford’s parts division. Wade McCaleb, secretary-treasurer of Local 1895, said workers at Visteon plants would remain Ford employees, while any new employees at Visteon will be covered by an agreement between the new company and the UAW that mirrors the one the union has with Ford.

UAW officials have said they were opposed to the company’s plans for Visteon, which employs 23,500 UAW workers. Officials were concerned a separate Visteon could cut back to compete against other parts companies.

The strike deadline of midnight Friday was a first in U.S. auto industry negotiations this year and a sign of strain in what had been billed as a close relationship.

However, the union said it did not authorize any work stoppages, and workers at only a handful of plants walked off the job when the deadline passed. Plants scheduled to operate Saturday were back in business by the day shift.

The temporary walkout was designed to be “kind of like a wake-up call” to Ford, said Larry Senyard, treasurer of Local 325 in St. Louis.

The walkouts came at Ford plants in St. Louis; Claycomo, Mo.; Flat Rock, Mich.; and St. Paul, Minn. There was no word on how many workers were involved.

Ford made $6.6 billion in 1998, thanks to a lack of work stoppages and bulked-up production at truck and sport-utility vehicle plants.