Ford makes unemployment "Job 1"

By Lee Russ

Thursday, September 14, 2006 at 01:41 PM

Headlines you never imagined possible as recently as 15 years ago: Ford and UAW extend buyouts to all hourly workers

Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News

DEARBORN -- Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers union have agreed to extend buyouts to all Ford hourly workers in the United States.

The move addresses Wall Street's chief concern, namely that the pace of Ford's downsizing is proceeding too slowly. Though the company had set a goal of eliminating some 30,000 factory jobs by 2012, its targeted buyout program had only trimmed about 6,500 positions as of Sept. 1.

The new program is expected to lead to a much broader exodus from the company.

Now that's an understatement!  "Expected to lead" and "broader exodus."  You bet.  Hope that buyout's big enough for the workers to pay for one more generation of kids going to college, but I really doubt it will be.

Any bets on which one's next?  GM?  Adelphi? Kodak? All three?  All three plus another 10 you can't think of right now?

This is a day that will figure prominently in future history books (unless the censors step in, of course).