GM buyouts caused mixed feelings

DETROIT, June 28 (UPI) -- Some of the nearly 17,000 General Motors Corp. assembly plant workers who took buyouts from the U.S. company say they have mixed feelings about their decision.

Former alignment coordinator Chuck Hengesbach said after spending 30 years at the auto maker's plant in Pontiac, Mich., he was attempting to find the good in the company's buyouts, The Detroit News reported Saturday.

"They provided a pretty good life for us," Hengesbach said. "I got a nice house out of the deal, and a little property up north."

Former assembly line team leader Roger Powell said the company's decision to cut workers to remain competitive in the automobile industry was "scary" given rising gas prices.

"It didn't feel too bad yesterday but driving down with the gas prices makes it scary," the Pontiac plant worker said. "That'll be coming out of my retirement check."

The News said in order to make the employment cuts, GM officials gave a total of 17,398 workers retirement incentives or a financial buyout to leave their jobs.