The deal, reached around 3.20am (3.20 pm Singapore time), must be ratified by the UAW's approximately 60,000 members at Ford.

If approved, it would bring a close to historic negotiations that have yielded agreements designed to return the struggling US-based automakers to profitability.

Details of the Ford agreement were not immediately released, but the deal likely will be close to what was negotiated with General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC.

Those pacts - which were reached after short strikes against the automakers - include a union-run trust that would take over the companies' retiree health care obligations, a lower-tier wage scale for some workers and some job security pledges.

The Ford deal came after a bargaining session that lasted more than 41 hours inside the automaker?s world headquarters building in Dearborn, Michigan.

'Our bargaining committee came through for our active and retired members,' UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement.

The deal encourages Ford to invest in its products while addressing the economic needs of union members, his statement said.

'We face enormous challenges - and we also have enormous potential,' UAW Vice President Bob King said in the statement.

The chief union negotiator with Ford said the union's goals were to win new product and investment from the company, get job security and protect seniority rights.

'We made progress in all these areas,' he said. -- AP