Talks to avert a strike over pay by professional staff at Ford's UK plants have broken down over pay and pension issues, unions have said.

If engineers, computer, payroll and administrative staff fail to agree the final offer over the coming days, they could walk out, leading to the first national strike in the British car industry since the 1980s.

Union leaders will meet on Thursday to decide whether to agree the company's final offer, go on their first strike or take some other industrial action short of a strike.

The 3,000 white collar workers, traditionally regarded as moderate, want a pay deal in line with that agreed for manual staff.

They say their offer of 11% over three years is 4% less than the settlement for production employees.

There is also a separate dispute over plans to merge the pension funds of the staff and hourly paid workers.

A union spokesman said the professional staff's pension was £507m in surplus, while the hourly workers' pension was £155m in deficit.

"Our members fear there is going to be a raid on their pension fund," the spokesman said.

Accusations

Talks were held in London to try to avert industrial action, but they broke down, with unions accusing Ford of refusing to negotiate.

Terry Pye, national officer of the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union, said: "Ford's refusal to negotiate on pay and pensions with their professional staff has taken us beyond the point of no return.

"Strike action within days now seems inevitable, and Ford only have themselves to blame."

Bob Purkiss national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union, said Ford seemed "hell bent" on wrecking the relationship with the white collar workers.

A Ford spokesman said the company was "very disappointed" as it believed its offer was "extremely fair."

He said the company's final offer made on 1 December remained on the table.

Ford's professional staff voted to back a strike call by 63% on 2 February. A spokesman for the MSF said a strike by professional workers could bring Ford's UK production to a halt.

Landmark deal

Ford production workers agreed an inflation-busting three-year pay deal in November which included a 90-minute cut in the working week.

The settlement means an average Ford production worker will be paid some £406 in three years - an extra £40 a week.

It was the first time a three-year pay deal had been agreed between unions and the company and the first cut in hours for 17 years.

Ford agreed to cut the working week from 39 to 37.5 hours and improve pensions, which are worth around £1,300 a year.

Chief union negotiator Tony Woodley described the agreement as a "landmark" deal which was worth more than 15% overall.

Mr Woodley, national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union, said the settlement rewarded workers for productivity gains which had enabled Ford to make substantial profits from its UK plans.