The historic buyout and early retirement deal brokered between GM, the United Auto Workers and Delphi offers a number of incentives to move workers off of the assembly line -- and off company payrolls. The deal provides several alternatives for Delphi and GM hourly employees, including early retirements, buyouts and changes for workers who elect to move between companies.
All UAW members working for GM and most workers at Delphi in the United States may qualify for the packages, depending on seniority.

Retirement plans

These plans offer financial incentives to move active workers to retirement rolls.


• Special Attrition Program offers $35,000 to anyone who retires with at least 30 years of service. This is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2005. It is a straightforward attempt to motivate employees with 30 years service, typically the highest-paid hourly workers, to retire.
  
• Mutually Satisfactory Retirement : This is for employees at least 50 years old with 10 years or more of credited service and moves workers into early retirement.
  
• Pre-retirement :
  A sliding payment scale allows workers with 27, 28 or 29 years of service to retire now and receive a monthly salary (between $2,800 and $2,900) until hitting the 30-year mark, then retiring. For certain eligible workers in Baltimore; Lansing; Linden, N.J.; Muncie, Ind.; and Oklahoma City; the pre-retirement option is available for those with 26 years of credited service. The gross monthly wage would be $2,750 for those individuals.
  Note: Delphi employees accepting any of the special attrition program retirement options can retire from Delphi, or be considered a "flowback" worker to GM for purposes of retirement.

Buyouts

These incentives offer a single cash payment to move an active worker off GM's payroll.
By accepting the buyouts, workers sever all ties with GM and former subsidiary Delphi, including health care and other post-retirement benefits. Vested pension benefits are not impacted.


• $140,000: GM employees with 10 or more years of seniority.
  
• $70,000: GM employees with less than 10 years of seniority.

Employment rules

This part of the agreement deals with active employees still at the two companies who continue to work at either one.


• GM will allow 5,000 Delphi workers to transfer back to GM by September 2007.
  
• GM employees who have moved to Delphi will now have the right to go back to GM.
  
• Delphi employees hired at Delphi after Oct. 18, 1999, who were still working when the company filed for bankruptcy, can now move to open GM positions -- only after all eligible GM and Delphi flow backs have been given the opportunity.
  
• GM and Delphi can use temporary employees to fill in operating gaps arising from the attrition program.
  
• During the attrition program, GM employees can't move to Delphi.

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