From Detroit Free Press

DETROIT -- Although the talks with the UAW are crucial for all of Detroit's automakers, experts say they are even more so for Ford Motor Co., which officially kicks off negotiations with the union today at Ford's headquarters in Dearborn, MI.

"In Ford's case, they're obviously in the most serious situation," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research.

Because of that, company insiders and industry experts say Ford needs much more help from the union than it already has gotten if the company is going to survive.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice President Bob King, who will lead negotiations with Ford, are aware of the company's delicate financial situation.

"I know internally at the UAW, there've been discussions about what is going to be required, for example, to give Ford a chance ... to survive," Cole said. "I'm not saying they're at the edge of the cliff, but they're close to it."

There's even a chance that Ford might get a contract that varies from any pattern agreement with General Motors Corp. and the Chrysler Group or has special amendments or other considerations.

After losing a record $12.6 billion in 2006, Ford is in the midst of its Way Forward turnaround plan. That effort already calls for closing 16 plants, eliminating 44,000 hourly and salaried jobs, as well as revamping cars and trucks.

Ford has said it is not expecting its North American operations to be profitable again until 2009, but the competitive environment continues to worsen.

So far this year, for example, Ford's sales in the United States are the worst among the major automakers, down 11.2 percent. And later this week, Ford is expected to announce losses of nearly $700 million for the second quarter, which would bring losses for the year to about $1 billion.

Ford's negotiating team will be headed by Joe Laymon, group vice president of corporate human resources and labor affairs; Joseph Hinrichs, vice president of North American manufacturing, and Marty Mulloy, vice president of labor affairs.

The labor talks also will be the first ones at Ford for Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, who negotiated with a variety of unions when he headed Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

"I think it's more similar than different," he told the Detroit Free Press in a recent interview. "They want us to be competitive, too."

To give itself that chance, Ford plans to go after the UAW to reduce total hourly labor costs by $21 an hour, Ford insiders have told the Free Press. That would bring wages and benefits down to $50 an hour.

Ford workers have shown a willingness to bend on work rules to help Ford's position, and most of Ford's factories already have signed so-called competitive operating agreements during the past year or so that allow for more flexibility on the plant floor.

Ford also will have to finalize with the UAW the closure of plants under its Way Forward plan. That includes two assembly and four parts plants the company has yet to identify.

Samuel Stephens, president of UAW Local 882, which represents Ford workers in Atlanta, where the company just closed the Taurus assembly plant and a parts distribution center, said the UAW is going to try to help Ford.

"We will try to help them return to profitability," said Stephens, a 21-year Ford employee. "It's a new day and a new time. ... We're not the only kids on the block anymore."

Mike Pascarella, a 19-year employee at Michigan Truck in Wayne, MI, where the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator are built, said the most important element of the talks to him is job security.

"We've all been hearing about what plant might close," he said, noting that a plant that builds big SUVs in today's environment is obviously a concern.

"Everybody that comes to work here wants to come to work here tomorrow and the next day. We are all worried about our jobs every day. We still want to provide for our families."

(c) 2007, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.