Ford Motor Company and union leaders reached an agreement Monday designed to lower health care costs in the ailing US car industry. The deal would allow the carmaker to make contributions to the United Auto Workers (UAW) health care plan for retirees with up to 50 per cent stock instead of cash, a move the manufacturer said would help it meet its obligations. Ford owes 13.6 billion dollars to the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, as the health care trust is known. "The agreements, if finalized, will allow Ford to become competitive with foreign automakers' US manufacturing operations, and are critical to our efforts to operate through the current deep economic downturn without accessing government loans," said Joe Hinrichs, Ford vice president for global manufacturing and labour affairs.
