Profit-sharing at Big Three

USA: Some 95,000 U.S. hourly workers at Ford Motor Co. will again benefit from profit-sharing as the company has announced a modest return to profitability for the year 2002. Ford will give checks worth an average of $160 in profit-sharing to each of its hourly employees on March 12. Under provisions in the United Auto Workers' contracts with the Big Three automakers, which hinge on their corporate U.S. profits, the companies are required to pay profit-sharing bonuses to their production workers. However, hit by an industry-wide downturn in 2001, none of the three paid out profit-sharing in 2002, for the first time in over a decade. Ford, for example, suffered a $5.45 billion loss for 2001. General Motors has also announced it will distribute profit-sharing checks, which will average $940, to 130,000 U.S. hourly workers for 2002, as well as the Chrysler Group, which is expected to pay anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to its over 65,000 UAW employees.