UAW says not yet briefed on Ford plan

By Poornima Gupta

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has not yet briefed the United Auto Workers on details of its upcoming restructuring plan and the union is certain to debate aspects of the cost-cutting initiative with the No. 2 U.S. automaker, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said on Tuesday.

Gettelfinger, speaking at the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit, said he was not certain whether Ford's update to its "Way Forward" program would include new cuts or just accelerate established targets for cost-cutting.

"I can tell you we won't like it, and we'll be debating it with them," Gettelfinger said.

UAW local officials representing the union's 80,000 workers at Ford are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Detroit, but details of Ford's plan were not on the agenda, Gettelfinger said.

Referring to media reports that said local Ford union officials from across the country were called to Detroit to discuss Ford's new restructuring strategy, Gettelfinger said: "That's a mischaracterization."

At the union meeting, UAW officials will be electing the bargaining team for the 2007 labor contract talks with Ford, he said.

Meanwhile, Ford's board is also meeting this week to review an accelerated cost-cutting plan. The initial plan, announced in January, called for cutting up to 30,000 workers and shuttering 14 plants.

But a $1.4 billion loss in the first half of this year, and a continued sales decline for Ford's high-margin trucks, prompted the automaker to promise details for stepped-up cost-cutting measures this month.  Continued...