Ford Opens Talks With Auto Workers

With a pair of baseball bats on the table in front of him, United Auto Workers President Stephen Yokich shook hands with Ford Motor Co.’s lead negotiators to begin the Big Three contract talks.

“We weren’t sure what kind of reception we’d get, so we brought the baseball bats,” Yokich said Monday while mugging for the cameras.

Later, Ford Chairman Alex Trotman walked up to the 52-foot table at Ford headquarters to address the 175 negotiators jammed into the room. Tipped to the Yokich’s Louisville Sluggers, Trotman carried his own bat.

Baseball weaponry aside, it was mostly smiles and optimism after the two sides met privately for 90 minutes of introductory statements.

“Steve had a very positive attitude despite the baseball bats,” said Robert O. Kramer, Ford’s vice president of human resources. “We’ve worked very hard at this relationship with the UAW.”

While industry analysts talk about General Motors Corp. taking a new get-tough stand with labor and expect Chrysler Corp. to be named the UAW’s “target” company, they’ve had little to say about Ford.

That may reflect the relatively strong relations between Ford and the UAW. The last national strike against Ford was in 1976.