US: Ford-UAW will 'probably' need to extend current contract

Bloomberg News (Southfield, US) - Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers will "most probably" need to extend their labor contract beyond its Sept. 14 expiration date, Mark Fields, the company's president of the Americas, said in an interview.

Talks between the automaker and union are "going smoothly," said Fields, who is in Germany for the Frankfurt auto show. "We're meeting regularly but I would expect that if we don't get a contract, we'll agree on an extension."

The UAW's contracts with General Motors Co. and Fiat SpA- controlled Chrysler Group LLC also expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14. Ford is the only one of the three where a strike can occur. UAW members at GM and Chrysler, as part of U.S.-backed bankruptcies in 2009, agreed to a no-strike pledge and to take unresolved issues to binding arbitration.

Ford, based in Dearborn, Michigan, did not receive a U.S. bailout. Union members there rejected a strike ban.

Fields's remarks go beyond comments made by Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth on Sept. 9 at a UBS investor conference in London.

"Our contract formally expires on Sept. 14, but if those discussions are still going on, we expect to continue working and continue the discussions," Booth said at that time.