P.M. BRIEFING : GM Offers Raise, Ford a Bonus

General Motors Corp. has offered its hourly workers 2% raises, while Ford Motor Co. has proposed a lump-sum bonus in their first contract proposals made to the United Auto Workers.

Neither car maker has demanded any reductions in benefits or asked employees to share expenses for health insurance, sources close to the negotiations said today.

That in itself encouraged UAW negotiators, who have been bargaining since mid-July for new three-year labor pacts with GM, Ford and Chrysler for about 500,000 U.S. auto workers.

“There were no serious takeaways, which gave rise to optimism,” one UAW source at Ford told the Detroit News.

Both car makers and the union declined to officially reveal specifics of the offers made Thursday while they are under review by the UAW. But sources said the contract offer by Ford included a lump-sum payment in the first year instead of a base wage increase.