Ford extends buyout offers to U.S. union workers

Ford Motor Co. has extended the deadline for buyout offers to some 42,000 U.S. factory workers represented by the United Auto Workers union to June 26, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

Ford, the only U.S. automaker not operating under emergency U.S. government aid, offered buyouts in March to nearly all of its UAW workers when the union agreed to additional cost cuts and changes to the funding for a UAW-aligned trust for retiree healthcare.

The deadline for that buyout offer was Friday, but it has been extended by five weeks to give workers more time to consider one of the packages due to the tough economic times, Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said.

Ford has not said how many workers it expects to take the buyouts. The automaker has cut its U.S. UAW workforce by about half since it started offering buyouts in 2006. The current buyout offer is the fourth round for the union with Ford.