UPI NewsTrack Business

Ford says employee buyouts on the way

DETROIT, June 14 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. says a gathering of its plant managers and top union officials was told more employee buyouts are on the way for struggling U.S. automaker.

A group of 300 company plant managers and worker leaders gathered in Detroit Friday for an update on economic conditions as sales for Ford's pickups and sports utility vehicles continued to plunge. They were told a buyout program announced earlier by Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mullaly would proceed, The Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.

"We did say that we would offer targeted buyouts," the newspaper quoted Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski as saying. "We don't have specific details or timing."

The meeting was led by Joe Hinrichs, global vice president of manufacturing for Ford, and UAW Vice President Bob King, who made presentations on productivity and the financial condition of the company. The Free Press said Ford is preparing to cut its North American workforce by 24,300 and end such benefits as tuition and scholarship programs.

Ford stockholders stampede to sell shares

DETROIT, June 14 (UPI) -- A spokesman for billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian says Ford Motor Co. stockholders have stampeded to offer up hundreds of millions of shares to him.

Kerkorian's company, Tracinda Corp., was offered 826 million Ford shares in an $8.50-per-share tender offer that concluded Friday, illustrating the eagerness of stock investors to unload their positions in the struggling automaker, The Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.

With Ford's stock trading at $6.27 per share at Friday's stock market close, the tender offer price represented a substantial premium over the market price.

Tracinda spokesman Tom Johnson told the newspaper that Kerkorian plans to buy 20 million of the offered shares at the $8.50 price, which would give him control of 5.3 percent of outstanding Ford shares and making him the company's fifth-largest shareholder.

Canadian judge ending GM blockade

OSHAWA, Ontario, June 14 (UPI) -- The union blockade of General Motors Canada's corporate offices in Oshawa, Ontario, was ordered shut down by Monday by a judge.

The Canadian Auto Workers began the blockade June 4, a day after GM announced it was closing the truck plant next year, along with two plants in the United States and one in Mexico.

Judge David Salmers Friday night ruled the blockade must be gone by 7 a.m., Monday morning, which CAW local leader Chris Buckley said was a "huge victory," the Toronto Sun reported Saturday..

"As of Monday, it will have been 12 days since General Motors has been out of their building," Buckley said. "They've been sent a very strong message and hopefully we can sit down with General Motors and work out a way to protect the jobs of our 2,600 members."

The union claims the shutdown announcement was a violation of the terms of the recent collective agreement with GM, although GM Canada said it wasn't aware of Detroit's closure plans, the report said.

Unhygienic eatery chains found widespread

LONDON, June 14 (UPI) -- Government officials say many of Britain's top franchise chain restaurant outlets do not meet basic food safety and hygiene standards required by law.

Local councils have found that a third of the Yo! Sushi restaurants and 20 percent of the Pizza Hut franchises surveyed did not meet all of the hygiene standards legally required, The Independent reported Saturday.

The same held true for 18 of the 132 Pizza Express franchises surveyed, the newspaper said.

All British restaurants undergo inspections every two years and are rated on a five-star environmental health scale, with zeros stars being the worst rating and five stars being the best. The Independent said it analyzed the star ratings of 1,270 outlets run by 10 restaurant chains and used Freedom of Information Act information to obtain government reports on the most unhygienic restaurants.

The Japanese seafood chain Yo! Sushi was the worst performer of the 10 chains. Eight of 23 restaurants in its sample, representing two-thirds of its 37 total British outlets, received two stars or less.