Ford Plans U.S., International Job Cuts

STANLEY NOTE: Things are getting worse. I hope everyone is preparing because
quite simply, "Something Evil This Way Comes". On the main page of the website
at www.stanley2002.org.

From: "Marchion Orr"
[WETHEPEOPLE_UNITED] Ford Plans U.S., International Job Cuts

Ford Plans U.S., International Job Cuts
By JOHN PORRETTO AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co. will eliminate 1,700 contract workers, 1,300
vacant salaried positions and 50 salaried employees in North America by the end
of the year, the automaker said Tuesday. The announcement comes in the midst of
similar cutbacks at Ford's German and Belgium divisions.

The North America job reductions are linked to Ford's announcement in July
that it hoped to cut 10 percent of costs associated with its salaried automotive
work force by the end of 2003, said Ford spokesman Oscar Suris.

Jim Padilla, president of Ford North America, notified workers of the latest
measures in an internal memo Tuesday, Suris said.

Suris declined to say if the 3,050 reductions would allow the automaker to
reach its 10 percent goal or if further cuts were needed.
"This is an objective we're seeking to achieve by year's end," he said.

The 1,700 contract employees who will lose their jobs work for outside
staffing agencies.

In another move to save costs, Ford is cuting 3,000 jobs, reducing production
and scrapping promised investment at its plant in Genk, Belgium, because of
Europe's deteriorating car market.

After Ford's announcement of the cuts in Belgium, Prime Minister Guy
Verhofstadt called for a meeting with Ford management, one of the biggest
private employers in the country.
"We need to adjust our business to the new realities in the European
industry," said Ford of Europe President Lewis Booth. "We are taking steps to
accelerate cost reductions."

Additionally, Ford's German division said Monday it plans to trim about 1,700
jobs, or 6 percent of its work force, also by year's end - a decision that
follows a large second-quarter loss for the automaker's European arm.

Ford-Werke AG hopes to shed some 700 administrative posts and 1,000
blue-collar jobs by offering a voluntary retirement and compensation package,
Ford spokesman Wolfgang Riecker said.

Riecker cited the company's financial difficulties, along with the "extremely
difficult competitive situation," as reasons for the decision.

Ford has some 20,600 employees in Cologne and about 7,300 at its other German
site in Saarlouis.

The world's second-largest automaker is in the midst of an aggressive
restructuring plan launched in January 2002 that includes a goal of improving
profits by $9 billion by mid-decade.

Ford lost $6.4 billion in 2001 and 2002 but earned $1.3 billion in the first
half of 2003. The company reports third-quarter earnings Oct. 16.

When it released second-quarter earnings in July, Ford boosted its
cost-cutting goal to $2.5 billion for the year from its initial target of $500
million. It cut costs by $1.3 billion in the second quarter alone.

In July, chief operating officer Nick Scheele alerted Ford workers worldwide
in an e-mail of the enhanced cost-cutting plan.
"Despite this excellent work, we still face uncertain economies around the
globe and a fiercely competitive marketplace," Scheele said. "As a result, it's
imperative that we continue looking at all of our costs globally to achieve even
higher levels of efficiency and cost competitiveness."

Scheele said some of the 10 percent savings would be achieved through
attrition, hiring freezes, elimination of overtime and a reduction in agency and
supplemental workers.
"However, where these actions cannot fully meet the targets, we will have to
reduce our salaried personnel structure to address the balance," he said.

Ford has about 79,000 salaried automotive workers worldwide.

Ford's U.S. hourly work force also has been affected by the company's
cost-cutting initiatives. The UAW said Tuesday those 93,000 workers ratified a
new, four-year labor pact that allows the automaker to close at least three
assembly plants and freeze wages until 2005.

In trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, Ford shares were off 16
cents to close at $10.77.

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