14,000 Chrysler hourly workers decide on buyouts

Monday was deadline for 14,000

BY TIM HIGGINS • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER •

About 14,000 Chrysler hourly workers faced a Monday deadline to express interest in buyout and early-retirement offers made by the automaker in hopes of reducing its workforce.

While Chrysler has said not all who raise their hands are likely to get the packages, which include lump sum payments of $70,000 or $100,000, the automaker is working to rid itself of as many as 10,000 hourly workers on top of the 11,000 hourly workers planned for elimination over three years as part of last February's announced turnaround plan.

A Chrysler spokeswoman declined to say how many people sought the offer.

Buyout and retirement packages are still on the table for workers at Chrysler facilities in Indiana, Kenosha, Wis., and Twinsburg, Ohio, with a Feb. 25 deadline.

Chrysler and the UAW are still in talks about offers for workers at Mopar parts facilities and the Newark, Del., Assembly Plant.

Facing the deadline Monday were workers at: Sterling Heights and Warren stamping plants, the Trenton and Mack Avenue engine plants, Conner Avenue Assembly Plant, Detroit Axle, Mt. Elliott Tool and Die and the Sterling Heights Vehicle Test Center. In addition some workers at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and Warren Truck Plant were offered packages and faced Monday's deadline.

At other plants, such as at Jefferson North Assembly, hourly workers faced deadlines in January.

The company may offer more packages soon, Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson said.