DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union has no plans to seek a new vote if workers reject a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co, or to resume talks with the automaker, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said on Friday.
The tightening of tensions over the labor contract in the United States came as leaders of the Canadian Auto Workers union announced a tentative pact with Ford that gives workers production commitments in exchange for concessions.
The CAW agreement, which is up for ratification this weekend, would freeze wages for some 7,000 Canadian workers into September 2012 in exchange for protecting some factory jobs in Canada.
Momentum has been building among UAW local units to reject a proposed agreement with Ford announced earlier in October to change the 2007 contract and bring the automaker's labor costs in line with rivals General Motors Co and Chrysler.
UAW members at several plants have rejected concessions and a handful have supported the deal, which would give product commitments and a $1,000 one-time bonus in exchange for a "no-strike" provision on wages and benefits and other cuts.
The deal would be the second major revision of the four-year contract this year. The UAW would remain free to strike on issues other than wages and benefits. The UAW gave GM and Chrysler the "no strike" provision in their bankruptcies.
Voting was continuing Friday at some locals and others were expected to complete votes over the weekend. Approval of the contract requires a majority of votes cast by the roughly 41,000 U.S. factory workers represented by the UAW.
"I trust our membership," Gettelfinger said on the sidelines of an event in Detroit.
He said he was hopeful workers would ratify the proposed agreement and expected to release the results on Monday.
Gettelfinger said he did not believe that Ford's relative health had created opposition to the contract changes. Ford reports third-quarter results on Monday.
"We're looking for Ford to have a good quarter when they announce their results," Gettelfinger said. "We knew that going into it. We know we're looking long-term for product commitment to give us long-term job security."
A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment on Gettlefinger's remarks.
Ford is the only large U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy in 2009, but has posted net losses totaling $30 billion from 2006 through 2008 and remains saddled with a much heavier debt load than GM or Chrysler.
Gettelfinger and CAW President Ken Lewenza both have cited Ford's heavy debt load as a factor in reaching the concessions agreements with the automaker.
"Ford is not in good financial shape," Lewenza told reporters at a briefing in Toronto on Friday.
GM and Chrysler in their restructurings supported by the U.S. government both reached deeper concessions with the UAW than Ford. Ford has said that it needs the further cuts from the UAW to avoid a cost disadvantage over the long term.
The UAW proposal was rejected overwhelmingly by workers at assembly plants in Kansas City, Missouri, and Flat Rock, Michigan. It had narrow support at a local representing workers at its Michigan and Wayne assembly plants near Detroit.
Story Copyright 2009, Reuters
Photo Copyright 2009, Getty Images
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