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December 2, 2008 11:28:31 AM CST

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GM Offering Buyouts to 5,200 Workers

Posted Dec 19, 07 5:59 AM CST in Business,  US 

(Newser) – General Motors is offering to buy out another 5,200 hourly workers, the Detroit News reports. The automaker, worried that the slowdown in auto sales will carry into next year, is keen to get veteran workers out the door and lower-paid new workers in. Over 34,000 blue-collar workers left the company last year in a similar deal.

"The acceptance rate should be lower this time, but it's definitely money well spent," commented an industry analyst. GM boss Rick Wagoner is trying to close the gap in labor costs between the company and its Asian rivals, and is negotiating with the United Auto Workers over further buyouts. Employees will have 45 days to accept the latest offer.

Sources Detroit News, Bloomberg

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United Auto Workers members meet at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich. to discuss the new contract with General Motors in this Sept. 29, 2007 file photo. The revolutionary new contract shifts $46.7...   (Associated Press)
Unsold 2008 Sierra pickup trucks sit on the showroom floor at a General Motors dealership in the south Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007. General Motors Corp. reported Wednesday...   (Associated Press)
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, right, and General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner shake hands to open their contract talks at the UAW/GM Center for Human Resources in Detroit, in...   (Associated Press)
2008 model year Ford Focus cars are seen on a holding lot across the street from the Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., in this Oct. 15, 2007 file photo. U.S. industrial output turned...   (Associated Press)
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auto industry • General Motors • Detroit • United Auto Workers • buyout • labor • Rick Wagoner


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