
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993                   TAG: 9308310025
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DEARBORN, MICH.                                LENGTH: Medium

UAW PICKS FORD

Ford Motor Co., which lobbied for a year to be the first company to negotiate a new contract with the United Auto Workers, got its wish Monday.

The union's selection of Ford gives the nation's No. 2 automaker the greatest control among the Big Three in determining what the labor agreement covering 400,000 UAW members will look like. But it also puts pressure on Ford to reach agreement by the time the old contract expires Sept. 14 or risk a strike.

Once a contract is reached at Ford, the basic document is expected to be used to reach agreements with General Motors Corp. Chrysler Corp.

Health care, job security and retiree benefits were expected to be the most difficult issues at this year's talks. But neither union nor company officials said they expect a strike at Ford, which is the healthiest automaker financially and has amicable relations with the union that represents 96,000 of its workers.

Ford conducted a high-profile campaign to be this year's target company. GM, the target company in 1990, didn't press for the role again.

UAW Vice President Ernie Lofton, who heads the union's Ford department, said an initial offer made by Ford last week could form the framework for a contract.

But Ford's proposal included a demand that UAW members pay more toward their health benefits, which the union has said is non-negotiable.

"We negotiated health-care benefits and have continued to improve them," UAW President Owen Bieber said. "That was in lieu of wages that we would have otherwise negotiated. So we paid for those benefits."

Health care is one of Ford's fastest-growing expenses. Chairman Harold Poling has said the automaker spent more for employee health benefits in 1992 - $1.5 billion - than it did on steel.

Ford also is in a better position to let stand job and income security provisions negotiated by GM in 1990. Unlike GM, which spent all of $3.35 billion set aside to pay laid-off workers, Ford spent barely half of the $1.16 billion it set aside.

by CNB