| Ford Motor Co. will be offering buyouts or early | | | | want to make sure each employee has the best |
| retirement packages to its 75,000 hourly-paid | | | | information available to make that decision." |
| employees. The offer will be available to said | | | | Ford has earlier publicized its intention to cut |
| employees starting Oct. 16. Moreover, salaried | | | | approximately 30,000 hourly jobs and 14,000 |
| workers are given more than one chance to | | | | salaried jobs by the end of 2008. Said cut will trim |
| accept a buyout. However, employees who are | | | | down Ford's total North American work force by |
| represented by the United Auto Workers union | | | | 29 percent. From about 130,000, current work |
| must have decided before Nov. 27. After said | | | | force, it will be reduced to about 92,000. |
| date, they can no longer claim the option to | | | | Mulloy refused to divulge the number of workers |
| choose either one of eight buyout programs or | | | | who are expected to take a buyout package. |
| stay on with Ford. | | | | However, he said that the buyouts will take |
| The programs to be offered by Ford comprise | | | | effect next year. Ford will begin with the briefing |
| lump-sum payments of up to $140,000 as well as | | | | with employees on Tuesday. The briefing will be |
| reimbursement of tuition besides the traditional | | | | about their eligibility for a range of early |
| early-retirement packages. The Dearborn-based | | | | retirement incentives. Mulloy also noted, "Most |
| automaker, which is famous for its best-selling | | | | people will start leaving after the first of the |
| Ford F-Series pickup parts and trucks, have | | | | year." |
| started its educational workshops and career fairs. | | | | Those employees who will accept buyouts are |
| This is done to lend a hand to blue-collar workers | | | | expected to leave Ford by the end of September |
| in weighing available career options. | | | | next year. This fact was announced to the media |
| "We've put what we think is a very generous | | | | by Marcey Evans, spokeswoman of the |
| offer on the table," Martin Mulloy, Ford's vice | | | | automaker. |
| president of labor relations, said Monday. "We | | | | |