The workers departure is expected to be completed "in the next few weeks", bringing the total number of active Ford UAW employees to 47,000, down from the 95,000 threshold in 2003. Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally, told Autonews in a conference call today "no more UAW buyouts are coming."
In addition, the manufacturer announced it has modified its agreement with the UAW on funding its payment obligations to a trust fund for retiree health care. Ford reached agreement with the UAW, subject to court and other approvals, to allow Ford the option to fund up to half of its VEBA obligations with Ford common stock at market prices instead of fixed prices in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Ford posted a $2.3 billion quarterly profit, mainly due to debt restructuring. Reuters reports that the net profit amounted to 69 cents per share for the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $2.7 billion, or $3.89 per share, a year earlier.
"While the business environment remained extremely challenging around the world, we made significant progress on our transformation plan," Mulally said. "Our underlying business is growing progressively stronger as we introduce great new products that customers want and value, while continuing to aggressively restructure our business and strengthen our balance sheet."
"Ford delivered a very solid quarter, and our transformation plan remains well on track," Lewis Booth, Ford CFO added. "We strengthened our balance sheet, reduced cash outflows and improved our year-over-year financial results despite sharply lower industry volumes."
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