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 Eighty-four percent of workers at United Auto Workers Local 862 in Louisville voted against the changes, local President Rocky Comito said late Friday. Comito said workers felt they were being asked to give more than the company's executives.
"Some want to see management give more at the upper level," Comito said. The Louisville local represents 5,000 workers.
Another large local in Ford's home city of Dearborn also was voting Friday. By late Friday night, officials hadn't announced the results for UAW Local 600, which represents 8,000 Ford workers. But workers at the Dearborn Truck Plant, one of the plants represented by Local 600, rejected the contract by a 93 percent vote, according to Gary Walkowicz, a member of the bargaining committee at the plant who has been leading opposition to the contract changes.
The votes continued a string of defeats for Ford and the UAW, which reached the cost-cutting agreement two weeks ago but need workers to ratify it. Ford has a total of 41,000 workers represented by the UAW.
Exact tallies weren't available, but at least 11 UAW locals representing about 19,500 workers have voted down the deal, many overwhelmingly. Only about four locals with a total of 7,000 members have favored the pact.
Speaking at a community event in Detroit on Friday, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said there won't be a revote if the contract changes fail.
"If it fails, there would be no reason to go back to the bargaining table," Gettelfinger said. "We have a democratic process in place. People have a right to express themselves. We recognize there's a lot of misinformation about it out there, but that is what it is."
Ford sought the deal to bring its labor costs in line with Detroit rivals Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co., both of which won concessions from the union as they headed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year. If the agreement fails, Ford will have higher labor costs than competitors and therefore a tougher time turning a profit.
The no votes came even as Ford reached a similar cost-cutting agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers union Friday. The CAW has agreed to cuts in benefits in exchange for product guarantees, but that agreement must be ratified by Canadian workers.
Ford has said it won't comment on the proposed changes until balloting is over. The company is scheduled to release its third-quarter results Monday, the same day the UAW had asked locals to wrap up voting.
Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said it's extremely rare for union members to vote against the leadership. But he said Ford asked for too much too soon after workers already agreed to concessions earlier this year.
He also said Ford lacks credibility because its financial situation wasn't as dire as GM and Chrysler.
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 "They made such a strong case about not going to bankruptcy court and turning the corner, so they couldn't go to the workers and say,
'We need this to turn the corner,'" he said.
Comito said workers objected to a limit on the right to strike and questioned why Ford was seeking further changes. Workers also approved a new contract with concessions in 2007, and made health care concessions in 2005.
"They're concerned about giving up too much without justification," Chaison said.
Chaison said the vote is an embarrassment to Gettelfinger, who personally campaigned in Louisville last weekend. He started his career at the local, which represents workers at the Kentucky Truck and Louisville Assembly plants, which make the Ford Explorer and Ford Super Duty pickup. Both plants have received assurances of future work from the company.
Workers would get a $1,000 bonus if the deal is ratified, but the proposal also would freeze entry-level wages and require some skilled-trades workers to do more than one job. The union also agreed not to strike Ford if the two sides disagree on wage or benefit increases, although the UAW could still strike over other issues.
Gettelfinger told The Associated Press last week that the deal saves 7,000 union jobs with new product commitments at several plants, and that Ford could withdraw those promises if the deal is rejected.
But on Friday, Gettelfinger said, "it's not a big deal one way or the other."
"This was a positive contract for our membership. It gave them long-term job security and that's what it was all about," he said. "We'll continue to work with the company, regardless of how it goes."
Workers at factories in Chicago; Claycomo, Mo.; and Livonia, Plymouth, Sterling Heights, Flat Rock, Ypsilanti Township, Mich., have rejected the deal thus far. Locals in Wayne, Mich.; Cleveland; Indianapolis and St. Paul, Minn., have voted in favor.
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Associated Press Writers Corey Williams in Detroit and Janet Cappiello Blake in Louisville contributed to this report.
[Associated
Press; By DEE-ANN DURBIN and TOM KRISHER]
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