Fantasy job

Imagine your fantasy job. What would it be? Try this one.

1. You work for a major auto company, Ford for example.
2. You make good wages, because of the UAW.
3. Suddenly you get laid off
4. Now comes the fantasy part...you keep getting paid and keep your benefits.
5. You can turn down a job with Ford, as an example, if it is over 50 miles away, and keep your pay and benefits.
6. You get paid to read or even learn to deal blackjack
7. There is no limit to the time you can stay in this status
8. What a job!

Guess what? This is a true story. Ford has 1,100 doing this. GM has 14,700!

One provision that may be in Ford’s sights is the Guaranteed Employment Number program, or the Jobs Bank. It is a two-decade-old program that pays workers their full wages and benefits when they are laid off, even if they do not transfer to other plants. Workers have the right to refuse work at plants more than 50 miles from their home base.

The Jobs Bank has paid workers to idle away hours reading or to attend classes on subjects such as dealing blackjack. There is no limit on how long a worker can stay in the program, which includes an estimated 1,100 Ford employees and could cost U.S. auto companies up to $2 billion this year.

“The fact that they can stay in a room and play checkers for the rest of their life is an unbearable burden,” said Peter Morici, a professor of international business at the University of Maryland.