Stacy94PGT

Ford sweetens offers to CWA

Bill Koenig / Bloomberg News

Ford Motor Co. reached an agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers union to sweeten buyout offers so more factory employees will leave.

Provisions include a C$30,000 credit ($25,585) for retirement-eligible workers eligible to buy a new Ford vehicle; as much as C$100,000 for employees not eligible for retirement; and C$40,000 for retiring employees who waive post-retirement health benefits, the union said.

The union negotiated the agreement to avoid firings as Ford cuts production capacity, CAW President Buzz Hargrove said in an interview Friday. "This is not a temporary restructuring. This is a permanent downsizing."

Ford is closing nine North American plants by next year. In Canada, affected operations include an Essex, Ontario, engine plant and a Windsor, Ontario, casting plant. An auto-assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, is being cut to one shift from two.

The union and Ford haven't determined when the enhanced benefits will be offered, Hargrove said.

Ford wanted to minimize "the impact on our employees and their families," company spokesman John Arnone said of the decision to boost the buyout offers.

In the U.S., Ford offered buyouts to all factory workers represented by the United Auto Workers union. About 38,000 accepted from a workforce of about 83,000 at the start of 2006.

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Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.

My next Ford.....