Ford media coverage today - Thur 15th Nov 2012

[Sinead Phipps]

There is some significant media coverage happening today about our redundancy program which we announced in July and are implementing tomorrow. I thought I'd share our statement with you so you're aware of what's actually going on.

Statement:

On July 17 this year, Ford announced we would be implementing a reduction in production rates in November from 209 units a day to 148 units per day with a corresponding reduction in employment numbers of up to 440 employees.

Since that time, redeployment and in-sourcing opportunities were found which reduced the total number of employees leaving our business down to 330, more than 100 less than previously announced.

As promised, those redundancies were offered on a voluntary basis in the first instance, with approximately 118 employees applying. Unfortunately, as we didn’t achieve the required number of redundancies voluntarily, the company is moving ahead with a compulsory redundancy program.

This is not a separate or additional program of redundancies – it is the same program announced in July but with the final number reduced by 110 people.

Our goal for Friday November 16 is to implement this program in as dignified and caring a manner as possible and not single out those who are leaving our business compared to those who are remaining. As part of that, we have sought input from our employees and unions and have developed a plan that we believe is as caring and respectful as possible. It includes:

• We have designated Friday as a non-production day across our manufacturing sites, with employees not needing to come to work for their usual shift. All employees will be paid for the day
• Individual appointments for ALL employees (including those remaining) were set up in advance, with employees asked to come to work only at the time of their appointment
• Every manufacturing employee will take part in a briefing session with their manager and a HR rep – this includes the majority of the employees who are remaining, as well as those who will be leaving
• If chosen to leave the organisation, employees will receive information on all their benefits, including re-training and financial counselling, and will then depart the organisation immediately
• Those team members remaining with Ford will also receive an information pack during their meeting so as to ensure that each employee departs with an envelope – again, the intent is not to single out those who are leaving the business

Despite our best efforts, it will be a very difficult day for the entire Ford team – none more so than those team members leaving our business. We ask that others respect our employees as they work through this time.