Ohilosophy

Ford Motor Co. is planning to close at least 10 North American plants within five years with the loss of 25,000 to 30,000 jobs. Ford executives will present a restructuring plan to the company board of directors in the near future. Ford declined to comment on the reports until a major announcement it has scheduled for Jan. 23. The CAW agreed in September to close Ford's engine casting plant in Windsor, Ont. There have been reports that Ford plans to phase out production of an aging V-6 engine at a nearby engine assembly plant, but CAW president Buzz Hargrove said last week that he was confident the plant would be saved when it moves to production of a new V-8 engine.

Ford has 11,600 CAW workers in Canada. There are 87,000 employees in the United States in the United Auto Workers union. There have been persistent reports in recent weeks that Ford plans to restructure its North American manufacturing operations in a bid to cut its losses in the market. The Wall Street Journal said last week that Ford plans to close five North American plants, in Windsor, St. Louis, Atlanta, St. Paul, Minn., and Cuautitlan, Mexico.

The cuts will likely go beyond those five plants and include the loss of seven senior executives, up to 30,000 blue-collar jobs at more than 10 plants and the revitalization of the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands. Ford is restructuring its North American operations to stem pre-tax losses that reached $907 million US in the second quarter, ended June 30 this year.

The automaker made a profit of $454 million US in the same period in 2004. The North American operations pulled down the company's global results. Ford reported a company-wide profit of $946 million US or 47 cents a share that period, down from a profit of $1.2 billion or 57 cents a share in the same period the year before. Worldwide sales rose to $44.5 billion in the second quarter, from $42.9 billion that quarter in 2004.