For Ford Workers, News Brings Relief

Ford Aerospace workers said the reports Friday that the company is up for sale left them feeling uncertain about their futures but also relieved that months of rumors and questions about the troubled defense contractor’s fate were at least being partially answered.

There was little doubt the sale was coming. Employees said management has been paring the work force and sprucing up the sprawling Newport Beach plant as if it were being prepared for the sales block.

Concerns that a new owner might eliminate jobs or move the Newport Beach operation out of the local area have already prompted some employees to leave.

“I’m concerned about the future. I’ve got a kid on the way,” said Ken Hay, an engineer at the plant who said he gave notice Friday morning that was quitting the company for a job elsewhere. “There are other opportunities.”

Other employees said they plan to stick it out. “We’re not completely worried. It’s just business as usual,” said one 25-year employee who was driving herself and a friend to lunch. “You hear these things for months. I’m not that surprised.”

For many of the defense plant’s 2,700 employees, however, Friday was anything but a typical day. They clustered around TV sets to view videotapes in which Ford Motor Co. officials notified them of the sale and offered words of reassurance.

Company supervisors handed out leaflets printed on crisp blue paper that tried to answer questions that employees might have about the sale. Workers seemed more concerned about keeping their benefits than losing their jobs.

Engineer James D. Hynes and other longtime employees expressed concern about their retirement benefits. Ford spokesman Bill Selover said the pension plans are vested and the benefits are protected.

Another concern was whether supervisors and certain high-ranking employees would be able to retain their discount leases on new Ford automobiles. Selover said that they won’t be able to keep the cars on the same terms after the sale, but that the company will provide terms in which they can be returned.

Engineer Gary Wood said the company has had a hard time making a profit on its government contracts and has been trying to cut costs in various ways.

“The overall feeling is Ford got (news of the sale) out in the open. Now what is the next step? Do people start sending out resumes? Some already have,” said Wood, who has worked at the plant for nine years.