News In Brief

Ford and auto workers reach new tentative pact

Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) reached tentative agreement Sunday on a new three-year union contract covering 115,000 workers. UAW president Owen Bieber said the pact was essentially the same as the agreement with General Motors, which appears headed toward ratification by union members, but was adjusted for Ford's smaller size. He said the Ford pact contains a job security fund of at least $300 million to protect workers with at least a year of seniority who lose their positions due to technology advances or production shifts to cheaper foreign or domestic non-UAW sources.