Union says buyout offers not enticing

DETROIT, March 12 (UPI) -- A union official said Wednesday Chrysler LLC will be hard-pressed to entice 10,000 workers to accept recently offered buyout and early retirement packages.

United Auto Workers Vice President General Holiefield, who heads the union's Chrysler Department, said a sluggish economy has the workers worried, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"I don't think we will get quite 10,000," Holiefield told reporters. "With the economy the way it is, people are trying to hang on to what they have."

Holiefield added that the union and the company might have to talk about making the buyout packages more enticing to get more workers to accept them.

"So far, I think they are doing pretty good," he was quoted as saying.

Chrysler has said in the past that if buyouts fail to trim its workforce, it could turn to layoffs.

Already this year, 119 salaried-UAW members were laid off by Chrysler because too few people took buyout offers, the union said.