Events Calendar
In This Section
Matsos bottling a dressing that’s selling in 25 states
Economic survey: Job losses to bottom out in first quarter
Ohio gas up 12 cents from last week
SCORE offers wide variety of workshops
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
New version of Mozilla Thunderbird landing soon
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Browns find another way to lose
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Automaker's hourly workers must decide to stay or go as deadline nears
By Tom Krisher
Associated Press
Published on Friday, Mar 07, 2008
LIVONIA, MICH.: For Rick McDonald, the biggest gamble of his young life comes down to whether he believes Ford Motor Co. can turn itself around.
Part of him says it can. Another part wonders.
So at 38, the electrician at a transmission plant in the Detroit suburb of Livonia has to decide between staying and embedding his future with the wounded automaker or leaving under one of the buyout packages that Ford is offering as it tries to further pare its blue-collar work force.
''I bleed blue,'' McDonald said, referring to Ford's blue oval logo, which is among the assets the company has mortgaged to stay afloat. ''I want to be here.''
Yet the idea of a departure is tempting. Ford is offering 10 buyout and early retirement packages to thin its hourly ranks. It wants to shrink factory capacity to match its lower market share.
The company also is hoping that enough people leave so it can replace them with workers who make about half the $28 per hour that Ford now pays factory workers in the United Auto Workers union. The deadline is March 18.
Depending on seniority, workers could get $50,000 to $140,000 to leave the company, which has made the offers to all 54,000 of its UAW hourly workers. Ford says it's the last time the buyouts will be offered at all U.S. plants.
Ford once was considered the ultimate employer for blue-collar jobs with great money, benefits and hours — someplace you'd stay the rest of your life.
But Ford's fortunes have changed, losing $2.7 billion last year and $12.6 billion the year before. It mortgaged its assets to borrow up to $23.4 billion to pay bills and fund a turnaround plan, and it doesn't expect to make money again until next year.
Rudy Almaraz, 37, a production worker who lives in nearby Westland, has 10 years with the company and could get up to $100,000 to leave. But after taxes, he says, it would be about $65,000, less than he now makes in a year.
Production worker Ann Franklin of Harper Woods has 30 years with Ford, even though she's only 57. She can take an early retirement package and get $50,000, plus a full pension and health insurance, but she's still reluctant to sign up.
''I'm kind of thinking about it,'' she said. ''It's a scary thing. You're not sure.''
LIVONIA, MICH.: For Rick McDonald, the biggest gamble of his young life comes down to whether he believes Ford Motor Co. can turn itself around.
Get the full article here.
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