Johnson Controls says needs flexible labor

DETROIT (Reuters) - Johnson Controls Inc (JCI.N) needs labor flexibility in order to remain competitive in the face of uncertainty surrounding the industry, the head of its automotive business said on Sunday.

"There was no carmaker CEO out there who has not stated it's completely impossible to predict what 2009 will be. Nobody was willing even to tell us what 2009 will be," Beda Bolzenius, president of Johnson Control's automotive business, said on the sidelines of an event at the Detroit Auto Show.

"For us, the most important thing is to develop flexible employment models, flexible labor and shift patterns for whatever the situation might be."

Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls is the third biggest auto parts maker in North America after Magna MGA.TO and Delphi Corp (DPHIQ.PK), supplying parts directly to Detroit's automakers and various foreign automakers.

JCI, a maker of automotive interiors, seating, electronics and hybrid batteries, last month withdrew its profit outlook for 2009 citing the "rapid decline in global automotive production and uncertain industry conditions."

In July, the United Auto Workers union called a strike against a Johnson Controls factory in Columbia, Tennessee, that supplies parts for General Motors Corp (GM.N).

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, editing by Peter Bohan)