Post v.17

An interesting article to remember when hearing the usual clap-trap about the 'bosses' sticking it to the 'working man':

Ford Motor is applying the hard sell these days as it competes with Asian car makers - piling on incentives, doling out marketing DVDs and brochures, and making offers it hopes are too good to pass up.

But Ford's big new push is not to sell cars. Instead, it is trying to sign up thousands of workers to take buyouts, partly by convincing them that their brightest future lies outside the company that long offered middle-class wages for blue-collar jobs.

So Ford is pitching a buffet of buyout packages that are easily among the richest ever offered to factory workers, including one-time cash payments of $140,000 or college tuition plans for an entire family.

...

The company is offering a broad range of buyout and early retirement packages.

Employees with as little as one year of seniority can receive $100,000 cash, although they give up all health benefits after a six-month period. For employees at least 55 years old and with at least 10 years on the job, the payout jumps to $140,000.

Ford, which has a younger work force than GM, also included many educational options. One buyout offer provides a worker four years of tuition reimbursement up to $15,000 annually, plus health care coverage over that period and a stipend equal to 50 percent of base wages.

Of course there is a cautionary anecdote:

The company does not track the fortunes of all its former employees, but said it was proud of the "success stories" of people who have taken buyouts.

One such worker, Dale Beck, took a $100,000 buyout in 2006 to open a Little Caesars outlet in St. Louis.

"I went from making cars to making pizzas and it's turned out pretty well for me," Beck said. "I also know some people who took the money and spent it, and now they're struggling."

Dale made an individual choice for personal responsibility, three cheers!