Chrysler offers buyouts to hourly Detroit workers

By Ben Klayman

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC said on Monday it is offering buyouts of up to $100,000 each to hourly workers at 12 of its Detroit-area facilities as part of its November plan to eliminate up to 10,000 unionized jobs.

The offer will be extended to about 14,000 workers represented by the United Auto Workers union at the plants which make cars, engines, axles and other parts, Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson said. About 4,600 can opt for a more attractive retirement package.

The buyouts could be extended to a 13th plant in Warren, Michigan, which was idled this week, and the automaker is in talks with the UAW to extend them to eight other U.S. plants, she said. The same offer was made earlier this year to hourly workers at plants in Belvidere, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; and St. Louis, Missouri.

General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co said earlier in January that they had launched buyouts for UAW-represented hourly workers in North America.

GM's buyout offers cover about 46,000 workers, while Ford said it would offer buyouts to all 54,000 UAW hourly workers. Ford did not announce a target for the buyouts but has nearly 12,000 retirement-eligible U.S. factory workers.

Industry analysts expect the U.S. auto sector to experience another down year in 2008 -- with one investor predicting a possible 15-year sales low. Top U.S. auto executives have said they would not hesitate to further adjust restructuring plans as needed if the market weakened further.

In November, Chrysler, which private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management took over in August, said it would cut up to 10,000 hourly jobs over the next 14 months as it moved to slash North American production.

The cuts were in addition to 13,000 jobs Chrysler had already planned to eliminate as part of a restructuring plan announced in February. Combined, the two announcements represented almost half its unionized factory positions.