Mumbai: The United Auto Workers union has signed a contract extension with Ford Motor Co even as local leaders with the UAW union began preparing for protests if contract talks with General Motors Corp. break down.

The agreement with Ford clears the way for union-represented workers to continue working under the terms of the company''s current four-year contract with the UAW even after it expires at midnight on Friday.

"We have agreed with the UAW to continue bargaining past the contract expiration," Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said.

"The agreement says we will continue bargaining even if we don''t have a contract by midnight, so the question of a strike doesn''t arise."

The UAW singled out the No 1 US automaker as its strike target and readied union workers for a possible strike, the UAW underscored the stakes in the negotiations at a time when market optimism has been building that the automakers would emerge with a deal to slash health-care spending.

The UAW''s lead negotiator with GM, Cal Rapson, said in an e-mailed statement to union members that the UAW had picked GM as its "strike target."

Chris Sherwood, president of UAW Local 652 in Lansing, Michigan, said he had received word from the UAW''s negotiating team that he should be ready for a possible strike as soon as Friday, when the union''s current four-year contract expires.

"Apparently it got worse overnight," Sherwood said of negotiations between the UAW and GM. Sherwood''s local represents about 3,000 workers at a GM plant in Lansing. "Nobody wants a strike, but people also feel enough is enough," he added.

The ongoing talks had shown signs of progress earlier this week, said people familiar with the developments.

Both UAW and GM management have been discussing the funding terms for a trust that would take over retiree health-care obligations and remove an unfunded obligation of more than $90 billion for the Detroit-based automakers, sources have said.

The talks are widely expected to continue past Friday with about 180,000 active union-represented workers continuing to work under the terms of the existing contract.