DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co. will offer buyouts to about 1,300 workers at
assembly plants in Chicago and Louisville, Ky., as part of the automaker's plan
to adjust capacity with demand for its vehicles, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The buyouts will affect about 800 workers at the Chicago plant and 500 at
the Louisville factory, Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said.
Workers at an engine plant in Cleveland also will be offered buyout
packages, but the company did not say how many.
All three plants will move from two shifts to one this summer. The
restarting of an idled second engine plant in Cleveland will be delayed until
the fourth quarter, Kozleski said.
Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford is trying to cut labor costs during a turnaround.
The automaker announced in March that it would be making adjustments based on
capacity.
Terms and dates of the buyouts are not being announced at this time.
The offers are "very targeted buyouts to affected employees," Kozleski said.
"It's part of our ongoing plan to adjust capacity with demand."
Not all workers at each of the three plants will be offered buyouts,
Kozleski added.
The Chicago factory makes the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans and
Taurus X crossover vehicle, while the Louisville assembly plant makes the Ford
Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport utility vehicles. The Cleveland plant
makes engines.
Only 4,200 hourly workers -- just over half number the company wanted -- had
accepted the company's latest buyout and early retirement offers, Ford said last
month.
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