FORD workers could get more than a year’s salary if they take voluntary redundancy, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Bosses of the international motor giant hope that the cash will convince staff at its Southampton Transit plant to agree to leave.

They are bidding to almost half the 1,100 workforce at the Swaythling factory.

More than 500 jobs are to go.

Many workers will get a pay-off worth tens of thousands of pounds, with more than a year’s salary coming at once.

The deal includes a special payment of six months’ wages and up to three months’ pay in lieu of notice.

Axed workers will also get one week’s pay for each year’s service up to the age of 41 and a week-and-a-half from that point on.

All of these payments would include shift allowances.

A pension deal will be struck with those who are over 50 on May 5.

Workers have told the Daily Echo they thought that the volunteers would walk away with about £30,000 on average.

A Ford spokesman said: “Ford would always craft the fairest deal we could afford.

Ford has a history of doing the right thing and we have not had to make a compulsory redundancy in the UK since 1967.

” He refused to predict how many workers the company thought would take up the deal.

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Unite union regional officer Ian Woodland said: “I think this is a good union-negotiated deal and we would like to see training on offer to help workers who are leaving to have the best chance of finding work elsewhere.”

The company will be writing to employees over the next three weeks with exact figures of what payments they can expect should they opt for redundancy.

Interest needs to have been lodged by March 13 and applied for by April 21, before the end date of May 5.

Feeling among the workers is mixed.

One worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “On the face of it these figures sound generous but I think people will be surprised how little it comes to when they sit down and work it out. “I have a young family and I can’t raise them as a pensioner.

This is not the right time to be looking for another job.” Another said: “I will be waiting to see how much I would be getting after tax and everything and decide what I’ll do then.

“I don’t think it will be easy to get another job as the recession is crippling the global economy and the city just doesn’t have a manufacturing industry any more. I still haven’t really taken the news in.”