GM workers again ask: Should I stay or go?

Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

At General Motors Corp. Tuesday, yet another lucrative buyout offer and retirement incentives that most American workers can only dream about didn’t seem to impress several longtime employees.

"I just can’t see taking it; I’d thought it would be more money," said Ron Maxwell at the auto maker’s Pontiac assembly center.

Maxwell, who started on the GM assembly line more than 30 years ago, is just the type of older hourly worker GM wants to replace with a lower-paid new recruit. That future worker will start at around $14 an hour, which is half of what Maxwell earns.

As a retirement-ready production employee, Maxwell would get $45,000 and retiree benefits for walking away from his job.

On Tuesday, GM said it will offer all of its 74,000 blue-collar workers some form of buyout offer or retirement incentive. The news came as GM reported a record annual loss of $38.7 billion, most of which came from a massive one-time tax charge.

Moving out older workers is a central part of GM’s strategy to restore its struggling North American business to profitability.

But some workers, local union officials and labor experts wonder how many longtime employees may take this offer after having weathered so many layoffs, plant closings and other lucrative severance deals.

"Most of these people passed on the 2006 offer. It’s uncharted waters," said Harley Shaiken, labor professor at University of California, Berkeley, who closely follows the auto industry. Shaiken said he thinks GM wants to shed between 10,000 and 16,000hourly workers and replace them with lower-paid new hires.

Not all the reaction was skeptical.

UAW Local 276 President Enrique Flores said that some of his Arlington, Texas, members were excited.

Flores estimated that as many as 400 of his 2,500 members had three decades of service with the automaker.

"Hopefully, it’s enough to tip them over to deciding to take the offer. But it’s such a personal decision," he said.

Several veterans at the Pontiac plant debated the wisdom of accepting the buyout packages.

"I’m not saying it’s a bad offer, but it’s still about 9 months pay," said Norman Johnson, 53, a materials handler and a 30-year GM veteran.

"I’ve got a 15-year-old" child, Johnson said, explaining why he hopes to work another 10 years.

Dennis Maupin, a skilled tradesman with 30 years on the job, would get the Cadillac of offers because of his experience and trade: $62,500 plus retiree benefits to leave.

"How many people are ready to go? That’s a good question," Maupin said. He’s not, he said, because he is waiting to see how many future jobs will be paid at the lower wage and how many jobs will keep their current pay.

"We have to fight to keep trades workers," he said.

GM initially expected to offer buyout packages similar to those made available in 2006, when retirement-ready workers could take $35,000 to leave the company. It follows Ford Motor Co., which also plans to sweeten deals to its workers.

A range of buyout offers of up to $140,000 will be extended to those workers not eligible to retire.