F2 Wednesday, July 29, 1987
DEARBORN, Mich., July 28ÛÓ Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers opened contract talks here today amid union charges that the company is shifting too much work to outside suppliers, both foreign and domestic.</br></br>ÛÏFord is becoming more and more a hollow corporation, selling products it does not make,Û said UAW President Owen Bieber.</br></br>to industry, is like ÛÏbuilding a fine house on sinking sandfÛ said Bieber said. Left unchecked, it could eliminate tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. auto industry and undermine the American economy, Bieber said.</br></br>The union made similar charges yesterday at the beginning of negotiations in nearby Detroit with General Motors Corp., the nationÛªs largest auto maker. Talks at both companies are aimed at replacing labor agreements that expire Sept. 14.</br></br>The negotiations will be difficult, union and company officials say. The industry is under siege by foreign manufacturers whoÛÓthrough im- and government spending on unemployment and welfare benefits rose. The Third World debt crisis would probably worsen as a major export market for developing countries shrank. And failures of banks and savings and loan associations might increase as bad loans multiplied.