DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers wrapped up tentative labour contracts with the Big Three U.S. auto makers yesterday and concluded two months of talks in which a common yet unprecedented theme emerged: labour and management working together in a stand against foreign competitors.

"Since the start of these negotiations, one of our goals was to bring this industry together," UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said yesterday after the UAW reached terms on tentative, four-year contracts with General Motors Corp. and supplier Delphi Corp.

The agreements were announced more than three days after previous labour pacts expired.

The UAW earlier this week reached tentative agreements, also for four years, with Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group and supplier Visteon Corp. (The Canadian Auto Workers union agreed to new three-year contracts last fall.)

Only sketchy details of the UAW pacts have been made public. In general, the union appears to have sacrificed generous wage increases that characterized the 1999 deals to maintain nearly cost-free health care. In exchange, according to sources familiar with the talks, the auto makers apparently gained flexibility to close or sell a number of plants to better align supply and demand.

The 1999 pacts banned plant closings.

All agreements require ratification by rank-and-file union members, a process that's expected to take place over the next week to 10 days. The GM pact generally mirrors the others in economic terms, Mr. Gettelfinger said, but he declined to discuss details.

In addition to more than 300,000 automotive workers across the United States, the contracts affect another half-million retirees and their spouses.

At a time when the U.S. market share for GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler is at an all-time low, and foreign auto makers continue to expand domestic lineups and capacity, most analysts said the probability of a strike was low and the likelihood of compromise high.

Gerald Meyers, the former chairman of American Motors Corp. and now a faculty member at the University of Michigan, said the two sides, despite having to bargain on complex issues, seemed to have a mutual goal in mind. "That end is to beat the daylights out of the Japanese," Mr. Meyers said.

The combined U.S. market share of the Big Three fell to an all-time monthly low of 57.9 per cent in August, while Chrysler was outsold in the domestic market for the first time by Toyota Motor Corp.

GM chairman Rick Wagoner said the degree of professionalism on both sides of the table was the highest he's seen in any series of negotiations. "As far as I'm concerned both sides have taken the time to understand each other and the issues," Mr. Wagoner said.

GM, the world's largest auto maker, has 115,000 active UAW workers and another 340,000 retirees and spouses. Delphi, which has 30,000 UAW workers, was spun off from GM in 1999, and GM remains its biggest customer. "We're very pleased with the tentative agreement. I do think it sets this highly competitive industry in perspective," said Delphi chief executive officer J.T. Battenberg.

The previous contracts were negotiated in 1999 during the term of Mr. Gettelfinger's fiery predecessor, Stephen Yokich, who died shortly after he retired last year.

Representatives of the union and the auto makers have repeatedly said they would not discuss specifics of the pacts until the ratification process took place. But when the Chrysler deal was announced early Monday, Mr. Gettelfinger said that the contract with the No. 3 U.S. auto maker would serve as a model for the others.

Two sources familiar with the deals say they include a $3,000 (U.S.) signing bonus, a lump-sum payment in the second year and wage increases of 2 to 3 per cent in the third and fourth years. The pacts are also said to include provisions for plant closings or sales.

In trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, GM shares rose 27 cents to $41.96, Ford gained 24 cents to $11.73 and DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares rose 37 cents to $38.54.