DETROIT, Dec. 26 (AP) - Some United Automobile Workers members want a recount of a vote that narrowly approved an agreement between Ford Motor and the union that requires workers and retirees to pay more for their health care.þþThe union announced on Thursday that hourly workers for the automaker had approved the deal by a 51 percent majority. The agreement still needs approval in federal court.þþBut because of the close vote, some dissension remains.þþÿI am afraid that members are going to turn their backs on the union,ÿ Ron Lare, a member at U.A.W. Local 600 in Dearborn, Mich., told The Detroit Free Press. ÿSeveral people have called me, union reformers, to say they would like to protest this vote count.ÿþþA union spokesman, Paul Krell, said the union stood by the accuracy of the vote results that it reported, and said union officials had expected a close vote because of the concessions being sought.þþFord, which has been struggling with soaring health care costs, said the deal would save it $850 million a year and would shave about $5 billion off its long-term retiree health care liability.þþLast month, hourly workers at General Motors approved a similar agreement by a 61 percent majority. The U.A.W. has also begun negotiating a similar agreement with DaimlerChrysler.þþ
Source: NY Times
