automakers Each side gave a bit in pacts, sources say

Deals include a signing bonus and lump-sum payment in the first two years.
DETROIT (AP) -- Plant closings or sales and smaller wage increases and pension payouts are part of tentative agreements reached this week between the United Auto Workers union and two of Detroit's Big Three automakers, according to sources familiar with the pacts.
The UAW, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler have declined to discuss specifics of the proposed four-year contracts, but two sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said they include a $3,000 signing bonus, a lump-sum payment in the second year and wage increases between 2 percent and 3 percent in the third and fourth years.
The union also managed to avoid any radical changes to its low-cost health care insurance program. Heading into negotiations, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger was adamant that the union would not move backward on its medical benefits.
In exchange, automakers are expected to have more flexibility in plant closings or divestitures, something both DaimlerChrysler and Ford had sought.
GM, Delphi still bargaining
General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, and auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. remained at the bargaining table with the UAW on Tuesday.
General Motors is the largest manufacturer in Ohio in terms of jobs with 21,350 workers, followed by Delphi with 20,300 workers. Ford employs 17,800 Ohioans and DaimlerChrysler employs 11,000.
The union has said GM employees will report to work as usual while talks continue. Gettelfinger said late Monday that union negotiators would stay at the bargaining table until a tentative agreement is reached.
The talks, which have taken place confidentially, began in mid-July.
The union normally presents the new contracts to its membership before discussing the terms publicly. All agreements require ratification by members, which is expected to take place in the next week to 10 days.
The 1999 contracts, which expired at midnight Sunday, included a $1,350 signing bonus and 3 percent wage increases in each year of the contract. Negotiated during more prosperous times in the industry, those deals also included a ban on plant closings and nearly cost-free health care.
Leaner times
But with the Big Three's U.S. market share at an all-time low, a glut of manufacturing capacity in North America and aggressive expansion by foreign automakers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan, most analysts expected less generous packages for the UAW's 300,000 U.S. auto workers and half-million retirees and spouses.
"Details are sparse, but the DaimlerChrysler agreement looks to be status quo, albeit one that reflects that the Big Three can't offer the big paydays they have in the past," Goldman Sachs analyst Gary Lapidus said in a research report.