FRED THORNHILL
Ford Canada has confirmed that a round of buyouts aimed at reducing its global workforce will be offered to the 6,200 workers at its Canadian plants.
The U.S.-based automaker says it is working to resize its manufacturing capacity to better align it to market conditions.
Ford Motor Co. announced Monday it would offer buyout or retirement incentive packages to all of its 41,000 hourly workers in the United States.
Ford is the healthiest of Detroit's three auto makers and the only one to avoid government aid and bankruptcy protection. Even so, it says it still has more workers than it needs to produce cars and trucks at current sales levels.
The company says there are currently about 1,000 hourly employees on layoff in Windsor, Ont.
In the U.S., Ford's buyout package is available to workers with at least a year of service and it includes $50,000 (U.S.) cash and the choice of a $25,000 voucher to buy a vehicle or $20,000 more in cash.