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TORONTO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The union representing Ford Motor Co. of Canada's hourly workers is confident a new three-year agreement can be reached later on Monday or early on Tuesday, just one day before the deadline for a strike that would cripple the automaker's North American operations.
Although Buzz Hargrove, head of the Canadian Auto Workers union, told reporters he would have liked a deal by now, he said was confident the two sides could settle before the Tuesday midnight deadline.
"We're very optimistic, but we also know enough about the bargaining process to know that there are three or four issues here that could still carry this thing into tomorrow, and conceivably could carry us on strike at midnight tomorrow," Hargrove told reporters.
"That is not our hope or desire, but quite frankly, given what we have done here, my desire would be to tell our members today in the Ford chain that we have a settlement."
The union said that there were some outstanding local issues that had prevented the two sides from coming to an earlier agreement. But Hargrove said the major issue of jobs at Ford's Oakville, Ontario, truck plant was resolved.
The key issue in the negotiations was the union's opposition to Ford's planned closing of its pickup truck plant in Oakville, possibly as early as next year. The union vowed to fight aggressively to keep the plant open and has said it will settle for nothing less than a guaranteed number of jobs.
Ford is expected to match the lucrative agreement that General Motors of Canada workers ratified last week.
That agreement included a 3 percent wage increase in each of the first two years of the deal and a 2 percent hike in the third year, a C$1,000 ($633.00) signing bonus, 36 hours in additional paid time off and improved healthcare benefits.
($1=$1.59 Canadian)