DETROIT — General Motors Co. plans to freeze its U.S. pension plan for longtime white-collar workers and give all salaried employees annual bonuses but not pay raises in an effort to hold down expenses, officials announced Wednesday.
The Detroit-based automaker said roughly 19,000 salaried workers hired before 2001 will move from a traditional pension with guaranteed payments to a 401(k)-type plan with contributions based on salary and bonuses. Employees hired after 2001, which represent about 30 percent of the company's salaried workforce, already are in that defined contribution plan.
The changes take effect Oct. 1, and workers will keep all pension benefits they have already accrued, officials said.
GM also said it would offer bonuses to all 26,000 salaried employees and release the amounts when it announces quarterly and full-year earnings today. The company is expected to post a 2011 net profit of around $8 billion — the best in its 103-year history.
GM vice president of global human resources Cindy Brinkley said the changes are geared toward increasing profitability and reducing risk.
GM, a little less than three years past government-funded bankruptcy protection that saved the company from financial collapse, is expected to top its record annual profit of $6.7 billion of 1997, when the pickup truck and SUV sales boom was in full swing. Earnings should set a new record despite total sales in the U.S., GM's second-largest market, near a historic low of 12.8 million cars and trucks last year.
The changes announced Wednesday include offering salaried employees an additional five days of vacation and eliminating a plan that allows them to buy up to five days.
The announcement follows other pay-and-benefit-related news from the other two automakers representing the Detroit Three. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said earlier this month that both salaried and hourly workers would get profit-sharing checks, but he would not reveal the amounts. Ford Motor Co. said last month that it was giving pay raises and bonuses to 20,000 white-collar workers mainly in the U.S. and Canada.
Business
General Motors to freeze some pensions
Instead of pay raises, all salaried workers will get bonuses
-
-
Ad creates national buzz
Never Enough Auto Accessories is riding high after a U.S. Postal Service advertising campaign featured the speed shop in glossy magazines such as National Geographic, History Channel, Popular Photography and Scientific American.
Continued ... -
Score: Tap Employees for New Ideas
Every day, small business owners scour the internet, read business journals, and wrack their brains in search of new ideas for improving efficiency, attracting customers, and boosting the bottom line.
Continued ... -
Pool access for disabled is sparking controversy
The Obama administration is sidestepping an election-year confrontation with the hotel industry and other pool owners to give them more time to comply with access rules for the disabled.
Continued ... -
After NYC beer museum tour, hop on over to its bar
Beer was hip in New York long before hipsters were into craft brews, according to a new exhibit at the New-York Historical Society that traces the history of beer all the way back to drunken Colonial times.
Continued ... -
Recalls this week: Lamps, bike parts
Clip-on desk lamps and kitchen blenders are among this week's recalled products.
Continued ... -
Business View: To be healthy, we need to stop fraud
Medicare has been a ripe plum for picking by some of the most-sophisticated and not-so-sophisticated criminals. Because the law says that all claims must be paid to vendors in less than 30 days Medicare is based solely on trust.
Continued ... - Business Memoranda: 05/27/2012
-
Business in Brief: 05/27/2012
Local executive to co-chair policy forum; Machine safety is the subject of program; Job training help is available for veterans; Retail sales down in April; outlook better; and more.
Continued ... -
Making the miles melt away
Judging by the sharply angled, aggressive nose on the 2013 Lexus GS, you might think this is a car that wants to bite your head off.
Continued ... - Saturday, May 26, 2012
-
Small dairies fading away
The MacLaren brothers are third-generation dairy farmers, but they will likely be the last in their family. After working all their lives on the hillside farm in Vermont that their grandfather bought in 1939, they decided to call it quits, auctioning off their roughly 200 cows and equipment.
Continued ... -
Agriculture forum: A big year for local food in schools
With asparagus spears and rhubarb stalks poking up through the ground, many schools throughout northwest Lower Michigan are capping off a big year of celebrating and serving locally grown food.
Continued ... -
Futures File: Eurozone, investors troubled by Greek drama
The euro currency continued to sink this week, falling to the lowest price since 2010.
Continued ... -
Business in Brief: Michigan dairies show April milk increase
Milk production from Michigan dairy herds in April increased from last year.
Continued ... -
Council created in 2010 names members
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has named the members of a council created in a 2010 settlement to ensure Native American farmers and ranchers have access to Department of Agriculture programs.
Continued ... -
Sugar fight takes another bitter turn
The Sugar Association is accusing the makers of high fructose corn syrup of trying to candy-coat their image by calling their product a "sugar."
Continued ... - Friday, May 25, 2012
-
State jobless rate drops to 8 percent
Michigan reports that the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate dropped a full percentage point statewide and fell in all major labor markets.
Continued ... -
The Record: 05/25/2012
Assumed names filed in Grand Traverse County:
Continued ... -
Building Permits: 05/25/2012
Eastwood Custom Homes, 927 Andrew Melissa Lane, Blair Township, new home, $254,253
Continued ... -
Schilling's firm lays off staff
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's faltering video game company, which received a $75 million loan guarantee to move to Rhode Island in 2010, laid off its entire staff on Thursday.
Continued ... -
Dow wins Kuwaiti case
Dow Chemical has been awarded $2.16 billion in damages by an international arbitration court for a Kuwaiti joint venture that collapsed four years ago as the global recession took hold.
Continued ... - Thursday, May 24, 2012
-
Oil below $90 for 1st time since Oct.
The price of oil dropped below $90 per barrel Wednesday, the latest milestone in a weekslong decline brought on by uncertainty surrounding economies from Europe to China.
Continued ... -
Scott's Harbor Grill getting new owners
Scott Neumann is selling Scott's Harbor Grill just two weeks shy of the 21st anniversary of its opening.
Continued ... -
Greek banks to get $23 billion
Four of Greece's leading banks are to receive a $23 billion capital injection to replenish reserves which were hit by the country's massive debt restructuring deal.
Continued ... -
Business in Brief: 05/24/2012
Mich. Senate OKs work-sharing bill; Feds add 2012 model year to Cruze fire probe.
Continued ... - Wednesday, May 23, 2012
-
Local home sales on the rebound
Existing home sales continued to surge in the 5-county area, and sale prices also are starting to rebound.
Continued ...
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
