Ford Motor Co and the United Automobile Workers union reached an agreement on Saturday regarding the new four-year contract.

Unlike the contract of General Motors and Chrysler this one was settled without a strike.

Keith Brown, president of UAW in Dearborn, Mich. said: “I’m elated that we didn’t have to strike. We were ready to go, but it’s a good feeling that we didn’t have to.”

The contract will be sold to Ford workers by the union in the next few weeks. Ford workers are worried about their future because soon the company will have to cut some jobs in North America.

The deal, which requires approval by United Auto Workers (UAW) union members, would pave the way for a union-administered fund to pay for retiree health care.

Details of the contract were not released, but it may relate with the ones of General Motors and Chrysler. One of the deals will be that Ford will be able to hire new employees on lower wages.

Joe Laymon, Ford’s group vice president for human resources and labor affairs, said in a statement: “Though we will not discuss the specifics of the tentative agreement until after it becomes final, we believe it is fair to our employees and retirees, and paves the way for Ford to increase its competitiveness in the United States,” the Associated Press reports.

Next week the contract will be reviewed by union leaders before it will be presented to members.

Ford’s last contract expired on September 14 but both sides agreed to an extension.

Out of the three automakers from Detroit, Ford is the weakest with a lost of $12 billion last year. It mortgaged its assets in order to fund its efforts and lost rapidly market share from 26 percent in 1990s to almost 15 percent this year.

Ron Gettelfinger, UAW President said in a statement that the reached deal encourages the company to invest in its own products while at the same time it addresses the economic need of union members.

The UAW’s chief Ford negotiator, Bob King, said: “We face enormous challenges, and we also have enormous potential. Our goals for this contract were to win new product and investment, to enhance job security and protect seniority — and we made progress in all these areas.”