Detroit, Sept 16: Ford Motor and Chrysler announced contract agreements with the United Auto Workers, leaving General Motors as the last holdout among Detroit's big three in coming to a four-year labor pact with one of America's leading trade unions. UAW boss Ron Gettelfinger and Ford chairman and chief executive Bill Ford Jr. on Monday declined to disclose details of their tentative agreement, which also covers auto parts supplier Visteon, a former Ford subsidiary.
But at a late night news conference, Bill Ford said it posed no obstacles to his company's turnaround plan. The plan calls for the closing of at least two US assembly plants and two part plants, along with thousands of blue-collar job cuts, as part of a multiyear effort to return to profitability.

"Certainly the turnaround plan doesn't hinge on this contract, but everything we've been doing has been building upon our turnaround plan. And yes, obviously, this fits into it, or we wouldn't have reached an agreement," Ford said.
Ford's deal with the UAW came nearly 24 hours after the union, which had been expected to announce a multilateral deal with all of Detroit's automakers by Sunday night, said it had only reached a new contract with the Chrysler unit of Daimler Chrysler. Bureau Report