DETROIT: Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative contract Saturday without the strikes and public ill will that marked negotiations with General Motors Corp. and Chrysler this fall.

Ford employees might not sign off on the deal so easily, however, having watched their GM and Chrysler counterparts get hit with layoffs and cutbacks after agreeing to their new contracts.

''If it's a similar agreement negotiated at GM and Chrysler, then it's terrible for the workers and the future,'' said Gary Walkowicz, a worker and former local union official at a truck plant in Dearborn, where Ford's headquarters is.

The ink was barely dry on the UAW's contracts with GM and Chrysler when the two automakers announced they would eliminate shifts at assembly plants and lay off workers. Chrysler said last week it will cut between 8,500 and 10,000 more hourly jobs through 2008. Last month, GM said it will
cut shifts at three Michigan plants, affecting 1,700 jobs.

The agreements with GM and Chrysler contain pledges for future work and investment at U.S. plants but no promises on staffing levels, and the companies are allowed to adjust staffing to meet demand for vehicles. Ford workers are now less inclined to believe that the pledges will protect jobs, Walkowicz said.

''I think there is a certain amount of skepticism,'' he said. ''The other contracts had this supposed job security, which of course wasn't there, and as soon as the contract is signed, they turn around and announce major layoffs.''

If a majority of the Ford hourly workers who vote approve the contract, it would end four months of intense negotiations and put in place three historic contracts that slash wages and change the way health care is provided to retirees. The UAW represents approximately 54,000 Ford workers.

Ford's tentative four-year contract was reached around 4:20 a.m. EDT Saturday. The UAW held short strikes against GM and Chrysler before reaching agreements with those automakers, but there was no threat of a strike at Ford.

Report of some details

Details of the agreement were not immediately released, but a person briefed on the deal said Ford scaled back plans to close some U.S. plants and promised significant product investments to ensure those plants will remain open for now. In exchange, the agreement allows Ford to pay lower wages to thousands of new hires, a provision already agreed to in contracts with GM and Chrysler. The person requested anonymity because the union hadn't released details.

Ford also said the deal allows it to move its estimated $22 billion in retiree health-care obligations to a union-run trust. The company didn't say how much it agreed to contribute to the trust. GM and Chrysler have similar agreements in their contracts.

''Though we will not discuss the specifics of the tentative agreement until after it becomes final, we believe it is fair to our employees and retirees, and paves the way for Ford to increase its competitiveness in the United States,'' Joe Laymon, Ford's group vice president for human resources and labor affairs, said in a statement.

Ford already had announced its intent to shut down 16 North American factories as part of a restructuring. The company has identified 10 of the closures but has yet to announce the remaining six. At least some of those six are now slated to get new investment and avoid closure.

Among the closures are three in Ohio — a casting plant in Brook Park, a transmission plant in Batavia near Cincinnati, and a stamping plant in Maumee near Toledo that closed last month. Ford also plans to idle an engine plant in Cleveland for a year.

Phil McKinnon, a welder who works at the Michigan Truck plant in Wayne, said Ford withheld the names of the six plants so it could use them as a bargaining tool.

''I think that's just part of the game they played. It's politics, pitting one plant against another,'' he said. ''It's scare tactics. I've been here 35 years, so I've seen enough of it to know what's going on.''