Ford Gives Workers More Time to Consider Buyouts

Ford Motor Co. said Friday it is giving its hourly workers five more weeks to decide whether they want to accept the company's buyout and early retirement offers.

Employees at Ford's Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Brook Park, Ohio look over the new EcoBoost V-6...

Employees at Ford's Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Brook Park, Ohio look over the new EcoBoost V-6 engine in a Ford Taurus SHO Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The company began production of the new engine said to boost fuel economy 20 percent and reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

(AP)

The original deadline was Friday, but Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said the company is extending the date to June 26.

"We extended the deadline so that we could allow our employees a little more time to consider the buyout packages considering the difficult economic environment that we are in," she said.

Kozleski wouldn't say how many of Ford's 42,000 hourly workers have accepted the offers so far, but the extension could be an indication that the company hasn't gotten as many takers as it would like.

The automaker's latest round of buyout and early retirement offers aren't as lucrative as those made in the past, but they're better than those offered earlier this year by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

Retirement-eligible skilled trade workers can get up to $40,000 to leave the company, while retirement-eligible production workers would get $20,000. The company is offering $50,000 in buyouts for those not eligible to retire who have at least one year of seniority.

Most would get a $25,000 voucher to buy a car or a $20,000 cash payment as well.

There also is an option to leave the company and get benefits and payments for education.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford is the only major U.S. automaker that hasn't accepted government loans, but it is still undertaking its own efforts to cut labor costs and reduce its work force following the steep decline in auto sales that started last year.

Ford's buyout and early retirement offers are part of a series of contract concessions the United Auto Workers union agreed to in February.

Other concessions included suspension of cost-of-living pay raises, lump-sum performance bonuses and end-of-the-year bonuses. The union also agreed to take as equity 50 percent of the payments that Ford is required to make into a union-run trust fund that will take over retiree health care expenses starting next year.