Projo Cars Blog

With top UAW and Ford bargainers now in the final phase of negotiating a new labor contract, experts said the resulting deal could significantly alter the details of the high-stakes turnaround plan under way at the 104-year-old auto company, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Union leaders are expected to press Ford for product commitments that will keep their plants running and also to push for saving plants now slated for closure under Ford's turnaround plan.

Ford's so-called Way Forward turnaround plan currently calls for closing 16 factories, eliminating 44,000 jobs and revamping the entire lineup of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles in an effort to restore profits by 2009 to the company's crucial North American unit.

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