Chutzpah. That's the only word that, on the face of it, can describe the Ford Motor Company's current mulling over whether or not to award company executives bonuses despite the news released yesterday that 2006 was the worst year ever for the carmaker.

True, the news itself is out of step with the actual pace of events. The $12.7 Billion in losses happened last year and yesterday's announcement was the just the summary of the 2006's dismal record. Turn-around progress is (hopefully) under way.

But this does seem like a no brainer and according to most industry analysts, Ford ain't out of the woods yet.

And yet there was this story in yesterday's Detroit News:

"The United Auto Workers is upset over the possibility that Ford Motor Co. may pay bonuses to some managers and top executives, and the issue is threatening to delay progress on competitive operating agreements at some Ford factories, according to sources familiar with the situation."

Further~

"For 2005, Ford changed the bonus formula so that managers would be rewarded for progress on a number of fronts -- profit, market share, quality and cost -- not just the bottom line."

It's definitely a good thing to keep your people happy (and from jumping ship as the case may be) - and extra pay goes some way in assuring this. That said, it's definitely a bad thing to give bonuses in times of great fiscal peril. And that's the condition at FoMoCo - peril.

Ford should cancel the bonuses until outlandishly good news has hit the cycle.

Read the Detroit News report in full.