On final day for buyout, Ford holds breath for last-minute retirees

Sources in automaker, UAW say there are few volunteers for early exit.

Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News

Today is the last day for Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. hourly workers to sign up for what the automaker is calling its last, best buyout offer. But sources in the company and the United Auto Workers union say the number of takers so far is far less than Ford had hoped.

As of last week, only about 2,000 workers had signed up for one of the 10 buyout or early retirement packages Ford is offering, according to one person familiar with the situation. That included workers at Ford factories, as well as those at the former Visteon Corp. facilities the automaker took back as part of a 2005 bailout of its former parts subsidiary.

"I don’t think it’s going to be a lot," said Eugene Morey, president of UAW Local 849, which represents workers at the former Visteon plant in Ypsilanti, which is now being run by Automotive Components Holdings LLC, a Ford subsidiary. "Most of the people who wanted to take it signed up for the last one."

Ford, which is in the middle of a massive restructuring, had hoped between 8,000 and 10,000 would head for the exits. Because workers cannot change their minds once they sign up, Ford sources told The Detroit News that they are hoping that most are waiting for the last minute to submit their paperwork.

In an effort to convince workers to take advantage of the program, Ford on Friday sent an op-ed letter signed by Joe Hinrichs, the company’s global manufacturing chief, and Marty Mulloy, vice president of labor affairs, to newspapers in factory towns around the country.

"The old ways of doing business are gone," they wrote. "The Ford of today and tomorrow has to be lean, nimble and flexible enough to survive and thrive in a global economy and compete with the transplants. The bottom line: We must continue to downsize and simply will not have enough jobs for all of our current hourly workers."

Over the past couple of years, Ford has convinced 32,800 hourly employees to leave through buyout and early retirement offers.

Another successful round is seen as critical to the company meeting its goal of returning to profitability in 2009.

"If only a few thousand take it, there’s going to be huge disappointment on Wall Street," said Bradley Rubin, an analyst with BNP Paribas. "In an economy like this, I don’t blame people for not wanting to take one. I wouldn’t."

Ford has about 54,000 UAW-represented employees, 12,000 of whom are eligible to retire.

The packages will be similar to those Ford offered in late 2006, but it has upped the ante when it comes to early-retirement offers. Retirement-eligible workers will now receive $50,000 instead of the $35,000 Ford offered in 2006. Those employed in the skilled trades will receive an added $20,000, for a total of $70,000.

Most workers who elect to take one of the packages will leave the company on April 1, but some will stay on longer.