Ford Motor Co. will seek further cuts in its U.S. hourly workforce when it officially returns to the bargaining table with the United Auto Workers, according to officials from both sides who have been briefed on the talks. The two officials, who didn't want to be identified because the talks are private, said Ford likely would seek another round of early retirement and buyout offers to get the cuts. The reduction would be in addition to the 27,000 hourly workers who left the company under similar programs offered last year. Ford is struggling to reduce factory capacity to match its U.S. market share, which has dropped from around 26 percent in the early 1990s to about 15 percent for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands so far this year.
See "New round of job cuts likely at Ford", Tom Krisher, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 4, 2007