GM Adds Buyout Offers to Union Workers at Ohio Plant

GM Adds Buyout Offers to Union Workers at Ohio Plant

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., extending a bid to thin its ranks of higher-paid union members, offered buyouts to 2,346 employees in Ohio under a plan patterned after one proposed last month to the United Auto Workers.

Members of the International Union of Electronic Workers- Communication Workers of America at GM's Moraine plant can pick early-retirement incentives of as much as $62,400 or buyouts of up to $140,000 for agreeing to forgo future benefits, company spokesman Dan Flores said today. The plant builds the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and other sport-utility vehicles.

GM, the world's largest automaker, is using buyouts to help cut North American manufacturing costs. About 34,000 UAW and IUE-CWA union workers accepted a similar offer in 2006. UAW workers agreed last year to a four-year contract that cuts future workers' pay in half and pares many retiree benefits.

The IUE-CWA members in Moraine are negotiating a new contract after the previous agreement expired last year. They are operating under the terms of the old contract in the interim, Flores said in an interview.
GM will offer retirement incentives of $45,000 to assembly- line workers with 30 years or more at the Detroit-based automaker. Employees with a skilled-trade designation such as electricians will get $62,500 if they agree to retire.

Workers age 50 or older with at least 10 years at GM will be allowed to retire early, while employees with at least 26 years and fewer than 30 can opt to quit and receive lump-sum payments until they reach 30 years.
Any worker with at least 10 years at GM can accept a $140,000 buyout to leave with no additional benefits. Workers with less seniority can take $70,000.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=auY49TLkS0Vk