NORMAL - If Mitsubishi union members agree to concessions in their current contract, the union wants some assurance that employees will be able to continue to come to work and build cars.

"We're definitely looking for some job guarantees or some new product," United Auto Workers Vice President Jimmy Settles said Wednesday from Detroit.

Settles is involved in talks between Mitsubishi Motors North America and UAW Local 2488, which represents workers at the plant, since the company asked the union for economic relief from its current contract. Talks began last month.

Settles, talking with media by telephone, said he hopes the discussions can be resolved by mid-September.

"It's a lot of stress on the plant," said Settles. "The members need to know what their future looks like."

Company spokesman Dan Irvin had no direct response to Settles' remarks.

"We're conducting talks with the UAW consistent with our history of maintaining constant dialogue on our mutual interests," said Irvin. "The nature and specifics of the discussion is not public information."

UAW members approved a 31-month contract extension in August 2005. That agreement includes base wages of $25.67 per hour for production workers that assemble vehicles, or about $53,400 annually, and $30.21 per hour for maintenance employees, who take care of the equipment, or about $62,800 annually.

Both groups are also scheduled for a 3 percent wage increase in March under current terms of the contract, which also includes provisions on benefits, seniority, paid time off, working hours and more.

Settles acknowledged the company's difficult financial circumstances; parent company Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in Tokyo is trying to recover from several years of financial problems; it reported losses of $800 million for the fiscal year ending in March.

Those circumstances contributed to the layoff of nearly 1,200 workers laid off in 2004 when the Normal plant eliminated its second shift. Settles said he has received no specific information on when they might be recalled to work, but noted "it's extremely difficult to make a strong business case to keep a plant open with one shift."

Last month, the company also announced plans to trim its remaining 1,850-member workforce by nearly 7 percent, by offering a voluntary severance package for eligible union members and eliminating some staff positions.

Settles said he would like to see the company do some things to boost vehicle sales, including more advertising and giving "a little facelift" to their current product line-up.

The company is in the midst of a multi-year rebuilding plan that included the launch of the redesigned Eclipse and Spyder, both made in Normal. This fall, it will launch a redesigned Outlander SUV, followed by the Lancer in 2007 and Lancer Evo in 2008; all are made outside the U.S.