FORD CUTTING BENEFITS, JOBS.(BUSINESS)

Byline: -- Associated Press

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. said Monday it will reduce retirement and health benefits for 45,000 white-collar workers and lay off 630 people to save about $300 million a year.

``These plant and benefit actions, while painful for our employees, are necessary as we confront a serious situation,'' chairman and chief executive officer William Clay Ford Jr. said in a news release.

He said the cuts probably are not the last as the No. 2 U.S. automaker seeks to return to financial health, he said.

The company said …