General Motors, Ford brace for major lay-offs

Mumbai: General Motors Corp has offered retirement option to about 19,000 of its blue-collar workers in the US while the other Detroit major Ford Motor Co said it was finalising plans for elimination of 12 per cent of its US salaried work force by August 2008. 

General Motors said about 19,000 US factory workers - just over a quarter of its American blue-collar work force - had taken buyouts to leave the automaker.

While Ford's move is likely to cost over 2,000 white-collar jobs, reports said the company is also considering more voluntary layoffs of blue-collar workers.

GM, which is under increasing pressure to cut costs in the face of falling US sales and high gas prices, said nearly all of its 74,000-odd US factory workers are eligible for early retirement packages, intended to clear the way for lower-wage workers under a deal with the United Auto Workers union.

GM said the buyouts and early retirements, involving one-time payouts of up to $140,000, would be completed by 1 July.

UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said he expected fewer than 20,000 GM workers to accept buyouts, much lower than a similar offer GM made in 2006 for its union workers.