Peugeot last night was hoping to settle a row over proposed changes in work practices which has led to a strike threat at the Ryton car plant near Coventry.
The Transport & General Workers' Union said it hoped to put a peace formula to the 2,500 workers today after talks with management produced a softening of the car company's position.
A TGWU spokesman said: "There has been some movement by management and although talks are still continuing and progress is slow we should have something to recommend to members tomorrow."
The dispute blew up two months ago when the French company announced plans to reduce overall weekly working time from 39 to 36.75 hours. Peugeot in return called for compulsory Friday night shifts and various other changes which were recommended by union officials but rejected by the workforce.
In July the Coventry workforce twice went out on 24-hour strikes and threatened to escalate this to an all-out stoppage when it came back from its summer break this week.
The strike was averted when Peugeot agreed to postpone implementation of the new work shifts for three weeks and to hold talks with unions starting last Monday.
The TGWU has argued this week that only dropping Friday night working could prevent the row escalating. It declined to say yesterday how the company had compromised and Peugeot was unavailable for comment.
Even though the union is close to agreement with Peugeot there can be no guarantee the workers will accept it.
