SHOP stewards representing Ford engineers, designers and IT and clerical staff were due to meet today to vote on industrial action after pay talks broke down. MSF and T&G union members have rejected an 11% rise over three years and are demanding a 15% pay increase to give them parity with hourly-paid Ford production workers.

A national white-collar workers' strike could close down Ford's UK operations. Meanwhile the manufacturer has denied press speculation that a major announcement was due on a shake-up of its UK and European operations, following a warning from Ford of Europe chairman Nick Scheele last week that the group was looking for productivity improvements and cost reductions. A Ford spokesman said: 'These things take time. We are not expecting an announcement this week.'