UAW job cuts ahead, economist says

YPSILANTI, Mich., Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Upcoming contract talks with Detroit automakers will likely produce more job cuts and lower wages for new union workers, a top auto industry economist says.

It is possible Ford Motor Co. will push the United Auto Workers union for across-the-board pay cuts of as much as 20 percent, said Center for Automotive Research Vice President Sean McAlinden.

McAlinden, a longtime organized-labor supporter, said he this summer's UAW contract negotiations will be tough -- but he said he sees no chance of a strike, which he said would devastate the already weakened union and auto companies, The Detroit News reported.

The union's four-year auto contracts expire Sept. 14.

The domestic automakers' declining market share, aging work force and cheaper non-union labor abroad and in the U.S. South, have eroded the union's power, McAlinden said.