Ford and UAW resume contract talks

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co and the United Auto Workers resumed high-level contract talks on Wednesday, as the embattled automaker held out the prospect that it might close fewer U.S. plants in exchange for a cost-saving agreement with its major union.

Ford, which has said it will close 16 North American factories as part of its restructuring, has so far identified only 10 of those facilities. Ford has 33 UAW-represented factories in the United States.

The six unidentified plants were part of the contract negotiations, one person familiar with the talks said.

Both Ford and UAW declined to comment on the talks.

Contract talks between Ford and the UAW had slowed down after the UAW indefinitely extended its previous labor contract that expired on September 14 to focus on talks with General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC. Workers at GM ratified a new contract early in the month and workers at Chrysler ratified late last week, both after brief strikes.

The UAW has not yet issued a notice for the termination of that indefinite extension, another person familiar with the talks said.

The extension could be ended by either party with a 72-hour notice.

The union, in its negotiations with GM and Chrysler, had issued strike notices to both automakers after canceling contract extensions.

Bargaining on some of the main issues between Ford and the union, which began on Tuesday after UAW President Ron Gettelfinger joined other union negotiators at the table, was proceeding smoothly, the person familiar with the talks said.

Many issues remain to be agreed upon, however, the person said, adding that Gettelfinger would continue to be part of the union's negotiating group over the next several days.

Ford had made it clear it would push for deeper concessions from the union than those offered by GM or Chrysler.

Ford had indicated it was looking for about 8,000 to 10,000 additional factory job cuts. That would be in addition to the 27,000 UAW jobs Ford had cut as of June.

Negotiators for both sides stepped up the pace of talks this week in a bid to complete a tentative contract for the automaker's 58,500 UAW-represented workers.

Many locals have been preparing workers for a possible strike. UAW Local 2000, which represents 2,050 active workers at an Ohio assembly plant, has assigned picket captains and posted strike instructions on its Web site.

Members of local 245, which represents more than 2,500 workers at various facilities in Dearborn, Michigan, have also been preparing for a strike.