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 (AP) - The news hasn't been good this year for workers
at the St. Paul Ford Motor Co. plant. No surprise, then, that Brad
Jeppesen wasn't eager for the latest restructuring update Friday.

      "All these news conferences, they don't say anything," said
Jeppesen, 36, who assembles truck bodies and was furloughed with
most of his co-workers this week. "It's coming out so slow."

      Ford, reeling from a quick consumer shift to higher-efficiency
vehicles made by others, is speeding up job cuts and closing more
plants. The company also said it is cutting more than 10,000
additional salaried jobs, and offering buyouts to all U.S. hourly workers,
including about 1,750 in St. Paul.

      The 81-year-old plant that makes Ford Ranger light trucks here
is still slated to close in 2008 and will lose a shift next year.

      The shift reduction is expected to hit 700 to 800 workers as
early as January, said Roger Terveen, who heads United Auto Workers
Local 879. He said union officials have been told the St. Paul
plant will go idle in the second quarter of 2008.

      Meanwhile, Ford's St. Paul autoworkers are pondering eight
buyout options ranging from $35,000 to $140,000 depending on
seniority and age. Plenty of questions about the offers are
expected to come up when the weeklong layoff ends Monday, Terveen
said.

      Todd Wiech, a 46-year-old Ford worker who lives in Howard Lake,
had a lukewarm response to the buyout. With 18 years at Ford, he's
weighing the buyout against a possible transfer to a Dearborn truck
plant that's adding a third shift to make F-150 full-sized pickup
trucks. He could retire in 11 years.

      "It's certainly not enough to retire," he said of the buyout.
"It's better than just being let go. Yeah, it doesn't solve any
problems."

      Jeppesen, who's put in 14 years at Ford, was also mulling his
future. He said he's thought about transferring to a Kentucky Ford
plant, but he also plans to get training as a commercial driver
this fall and is looking at other job options he declined to
discuss.

      He said he wouldn't take a buyout for less than $100,000, since
almost half the money would go to taxes. Still, the cash would help
with a transition to a new lifestyle.

      "You could pay some bills off and take a job with a little less
pay and still be fine," Jeppesen said.

      St. Paul's economy is expected to weather the plant closure
without much problem, said Bob Hume, a spokesman for Mayor Chris
Coleman. 

The factory, which has its own hydroelectric power plant,
sits on a prime piece of land on a Mississippi River bluff.
Potentially, the land could generate far more in property taxes.

      "I don't think it's going to cause a domino effect," Hume
said. "We're working hard with everybody who employs people in our
region."

Ford said it would complete its cuts of about 30,000 hourly jobs
by the end of the 2008, four years ahead of its previous target.
Ford also said it already had cut 4,000 salaried positions in the
first quarter of this year.

      The new cuts would reduce Ford's total North American work force
by 29 percent, from the current level of about 130,000 to about
92,000 by the end of 2008.

      By 2008, North American factory capacity will be reduced by 26
percent compared to 2005 levels. 

 Ford also plans to suspend the quarterly dividend on its common
and Class B stock in the fourth quarter of this year. It said it
expects to achieve full-year profitability in its North American
automotive operations no earlier than 2009. The company had
previously pledged to make money in North America in 2008.

      Ford lost $1.4 billion during the first half of this year and is
under pressure from Wall Street to make further cuts and roll out
new cars and trucks more quickly.

      In July, the company pledged to accelerate its "Way Forward"
restructuring plan, which when introduced in January called for the
up to 30,000 job cuts as well as closing 14 facilities by 2012. The
new cuts bring the total number of plant closures to 16.

 The company indicated that it is ready to accept a smaller slice
of the market, focusing on profitable sales instead of sheer
volume. It said that, with investments in new products and quality
improvements, it expects market share of about 14 percent to 15
percent going forward.

      This year, the company is forecasting Ford, Lincoln and Mercury
market share in the low-16 percent range. The country's
second-largest automaker has seen its market share decline steadily
in recent years from about 26 percent in the early 1990s.

      "Turnarounds of this magnitude succeed when capacity and costs
are aligned with a realistic expectation of demand," Chief
Executive Alan Mulally said in a statement. Mulally, who was named
to the post last week, led a turnaround at the commercial jetmaking
division of Boeing Co.

      The company also said it would roll out new or significantly
upgraded cars and trucks in 70 percent of its Ford, Lincoln and
Mercury brands, expanding in growing areas such as car-based
crossovers. 

At the same time, Ford said it will try to maintain its
lead in the truck segment by introducing a new F-150 that will go
on sale in 2008.

      Ford has acknowledged a need for drastic changes in its product
lineup. Like other U.S. automakers, its bottom line is heavily
dependent on high-margin trucks and large SUVs, but recently
consumer preferences have shifted toward more fuel-efficient
vehicles. Ford says the speed of that shift caught it by surprise.

      Ford's method of slashing its work force is similar to cuts made
earlier this year by rival General Motors Corp. At GM, 34,410
hourly workers have accepted buyouts or early retirement offers
this year. Figures on white-collar cuts were not available.

Gallery

Union: Ford to offer buyouts to more than 75,000 workers

Ford will cut one-third of salary positions, buyouts offered

Ford plant's plans to eliminate a shift leave some workers unsure

Working at Ford is a family affair

Ford confirms shutdown of St. Paul plant

Hydro power may be St. Paul Ford plant's salvation

Business and Economic News

Martiga Lohn

Author

Workers at the St. Paul Ford assembly plant found out Friday the company is speeding up job cuts and plant closures in an effort to save money. it is also offering buyouts to all its hourly workers in the U.S., including the 1,750 in St. Paul.

Facing plant closure, Ford workers ponder buyouts, transfers

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