Free Republic

DETROIT (Reuters) -Ford Motor Co. said on Friday it would pay veteran aerospace executive Alan Mulally $18.5 million to join the troubled automaker as its new chief executive in addition to an annual salary of $2 million. The one-time payments include a hiring bonus of $7.5 million and $11 million to offset the compensation Mulally gave up for ending his tenure as head of Boeing Co.'s profitable commercial plane division , Ford said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mulally, 61, was also granted stock options worth about $10.5 million and $5.26 million in restricted stock...

SEATTLE - Boeing Co. on Tuesday presented what it called its final contract offer to more than 18,000 Machinists, whose leaders promptly urged the workers to reject the proposal and strike. A top Boeing executive warned that a strike would be devastating. In a statement posted late Tuesday on its Web site, the union said the aerospace giant was insisting on concessions and takeaways in a "corporate strategy to break the workers who have built this company." Union members will vote on the three-year offer Thursday, with the current contract set to expire Friday. "I just cannot emphasize enough what...