Ford, CAW to start cost-cut talks after Labor Day

TORONTO (Reuters) - Labor talks between Ford Motor Co (F.N) and the Canadian Auto Workers are scheduled to begin September 8, the union said on Monday, with the company aiming for cost cuts and the CAW looking for job and product commitments.

"I'd prefer to call them exploratory talks, but they could lead to full-blown bargaining," CAW President Ken Lewenza said in an interview.

Ford has been pushing for the negotiations since the CAW agreed to steep concessions with Chrysler CCMLPC.UL and General Motors Co GM.UL in April and May to help those companies qualify for billions in emergency government aid.

"We have a long history of working collaboratively with the CAW and look forward to finding ways to ensure that our Canadian operations are competitive," said Ford spokeswoman Lauren More, who confirmed the post-Labor day meeting.

Ford has said it has enough liquidity to survive the steep downturn in the automotive industry, but insists it needs the same cost structure as its competitors if it is to maintain its manufacturing presence in Canada.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker has plants in St. Thomas, Oakville and Windsor, all in Ontario. When the current collective agreement was reached, a little over a year ago, Ford said it planned to close the St. Thomas plant when the deal expires in 2011.

Lewenza said keeping St. Thomas open would be one of the union's main priorities in bargaining a new agreement, which would extend the current deal to 2012.

"At the very least, we want to keep that plant going for the life of the agreement, which is now out to 2012, and give us even more of an opportunity if their market share increases to argue intelligently about a new product (for the plant)," he said.

The company currently makes the Ford Crown Victoria, the Mercury Grand Marquis, and the Lincoln Town Car in St. Thomas.

In order to receive emergency funding from the governments of Canada and the province of Ontario, GM and Chrysler had to commit to maintaining somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of their Canada-U.S. vehicle production in Canada.

Lewenza said that Ford's manufacturing footprint in Canada is about 13 to 14 percent of its Canada-U.S. production, but that would fall to below 10 percent if the St. Thomas plant is closed.

Ford has nearly 7,000 unionized Canadian employees.

(Reporting by John McCrank; editing by Rob Wilson)