GM to offer new round of buyouts to hourly workers

American flags flutter in the wind in front of the General Motors Corp. headquarters in downtown Detroit, Michigan November 7, 2007. General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it has reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers union to offer a new round of buyouts to its U.S. hourly workers.

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N) said on Tuesday it will offer a new round of buyouts to some U.S. hourly workers, making way for the automaker to hire new employees at lower wages.

GM said the buyouts, which will be offered to 5,200 of its 72,000 UAW factory workers, will include a combination of early retirement incentives and other programs similar to those offered in 2006.

Under a 2006 deal with the UAW, more than 34,000 workers left GM after accepting buyout packages that ranged from $35,000 to as much as $140,000.

Employees would learn the specific details of the current buyout program in January, GM said.

Hourly employees who accept the buyouts would begin to leave the automaker in "early March time frame," GM spokesman Dan Flores said.

Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson estimates the current program would be accepted by about 1,900 employees, netting savings of about $190 million annually.

"We view this as a small step toward the ultimate attrition program, which we have forecasted to net a total of 11,000 positions in 2008," Johnson said in note to clients.

A UAW spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The buyouts were part of the four-year labor agreement GM reached with the union on September 26, following a two-day nationwide strike.

The contract allows GM to bring in thousands of lower-wage new hires for "non-core" jobs to replace current workers as they retire or take buyouts.

These lower-wage new hires will start at about $14 per hour -- roughly half the current average hourly wage for UAW workers.

The buyouts initially will be offered to all UAW-represented hourly employees working at GM's service parts and operations facilities across the United States as well as five other facilities, the automaker said.

Almost all of the new hires in GM's service parts operations would fall into the lower wage category.

The program will be offered later to hourly employees who work in GM's assembly, stamping, powertrain and engineering facilities in early 2008.

GM's offer comes as concerns mount that the U.S. housing slowdown will hurt auto sales in 2008.

"We continue to work closely with our UAW partners to improve our competitiveness in the currently challenging U.S. market conditions," said GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner in a statement.

GM shares rose 54 cents, or 2.05 percent, to $26.93 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz, Richard Chang)