Union members are likely to welcome widened Ford buyout offers if the car maker accelerates its attrition in programme in coming weeks in a manner similar to that undertaken by General Motors earlier this year.

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“From what I see, if Ford upped its offer to $US140,000 like GM did, a lot of younger people would consider it,” United Auto Workers local [branch] 249 vice president Jeff Wright, a Ford Kansas City, Missouri plant union representative, told Dow Jones Newswires. “I think we have a lot of people who would be receptive,” a separate anonymous union official said.


The news agency noted that UAW officials from various Ford facilities across the US met in Detroit on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of Ford offering lump-sum buyouts and other incentives to US workers as part of an effort to speed up its restructuring plan.


“UAW members know that the surest route to job security is a strong recovery for Ford in its core North American market,” union national vice-president Bob King told Dow Jones.


Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans told the news agency the company considers rumours concerning its attrition plans “speculation” and declined to comment on whether the company was considering an effort that mirrors GM’s plan.

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GM in June wrapped up its $US3.7bn accelerated attrition programme, which offered all US employees as much as $140,000 to sever all future ties to the company, in addition to early-retirement offers to older workers. GM extended the buyout and early-retirement deals to former subsidiary and top parts supplier Delphi, Dow Hones said. While a majority of GM’s 34,400 workers who are leaving opted for early retirement, the company ended up shelling out more lump-sum payouts than it originally planned for.


Dow Jones noted that Ford’s blue-collar population is younger than GM’s workforce and Ford does not pay as much to fund a “jobs bank” of idled UAW workers. GM’s broad attrition programme aimed to cut expenses related to post-retirement health care and other benefits, while also whittling away at its jobs bank population, but Ford has been selective where it offers its buyouts because of its specific needs.


Analysts have told Dow Jones that while Ford is not in the same condition, it is showing more urgency related to its restructuring than it has in the past and a company-wide hourly buyout is likely, especially after Ford showed significant resolve in cutting inventory – production over the final three months of the year is set to decline 21%, marking the biggest cut in decades.


Many industry observers expect Ford to widen the buyout offers when it announces its accelerated recovery plan in mid-September.