Ford Motor Co (F.N) 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.
Ford declined comment on the talks, while a UAW spokesman was not immediately available.
Ford has made it clear it will push for deeper concessions from the union than those offered by General Motors Corp (GM.N) or Chrysler LLC.
Ford has indicated it was looking for about 8,000 to 10,000 additional factory job cuts, according to another person familiar with the talks. 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 on Tuesday in a bid to complete a tentative contract for the automaker's 58,500 UAW-represented workers.
Ford and UAW representatives worked until about 2 a.m. EDT on Wednesday before adjourning for a few hours.
Bargaining on some of the main issues between Ford and the union had not begun before Tuesday, since the union leadership, including President Ron Gettelfinger, had remained focused on the final ratification votes on a tentative labor contract with Chrysler.
Ford's previous contract with the union that expired on September 14 has been extended indefinitely.
Gettelfinger on Tuesday joined other UAW negotiators at the bargaining table — a sign talks were moving to their final stage.
Some 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.
