Ford looks to cut 4,200 more jobs

DETROIT, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. officials have indicated the company would like to reduce its North American hourly work force by another 4,200, union officials said.

Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally and other company executives told United Auto Workers union members in meetings Tuesday and Wednesday the company would like to reduce the work force by at least that amount as part of its current round of buyouts, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Company officials did not call the 4,200 number a job-reduction target, the newspaper said.

Ford has cut its hourly work force by almost 40 percent in the past three years, leaving the force at about 61,000 in the United States, Canada and Mexico as of June 30, the newspaper said.

The company, based in Dearborn, Mich., is offering buyout packages to workers in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, but has not said how many hourly jobs it intends to eliminate.

Ford officials had no comment on the report it told union members it wanted to cut 4,200 jobs.