Talk about your proud unionists.
$710.96.. The price of freedom.
Posted on 06/24/2004 7:50:09 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Ford's Lorain, Ohio, plant to close in late 2005
The Associated Press
6/24/2004, 9:58 a.m. ET
LORAIN, Ohio (AP) — Ford Motor Co. said it will close its Lorain Assembly Plant in late 2005, resulting in the loss of about 1,200 jobs.
Production of the plant's Econoline van will shift to the Ohio Assembly Plant in nearby Avon Lake by January 2006, Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said. Production of the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner at the Avon Lake plant will be transferred to a Kansas City, Mo., plant in August 2005.
Last year Ford announced it would close the Lorain plant within four years but gave no timeline. The company gave details to workers on Wednesday.
"They've finally told us what we've been speculating," said Phil Lukegord, 50, an inspector at the Lorain plant for 31 years. "They've given us a closing date. We knew it was coming. A lot of us are relieved they've finally told us. Now, we can get on with our lives."
Ford is cutting short a seven-year commitment made in August 2002 to keep production of the Escape at the Avon Lake plant, and that will eliminate some state funding for Ford, said Bruce Johnson, director of the Ohio Department of Development.
Lloyd Mahaffey, director of the United Auto Workers region that covers Ohio, said Ford has broken a commitment to keep the Escape and Mariner in Avon Lake.
"We've tried to do the right thing with Ford Motor Company, and I just don't feel they've met us halfway," Mahaffey said.
Ford and UAW officials have said many of the Lorain workers will be eligible for retirement. Some could find work at the Avon Lake plant. About 3,500 currently work at both plants.
Closing the Lorain plant is part of Ford's worldwide plan to improve the automaker's profitability by reducing its capacity to build more vehicles than it can sell.
1,200 new rat voters...
Don't worry to much. The displaced workers will be absorbed at other plants, if they chose to relocate. If they chose not to they can't blame their employer......Of course they still will.
UAW members are lost votes anyway!
They are already rat voters. In fact, the UAW negotiated national election days to be holidays so they can "get out the vote"!
This plant seems to close every two years.
What am I saying. The Ford Econoline. What a piece of crap! Good riddance!
Talk about your proud unionists.
$710.96.. The price of freedom.
No. You will be pleased to know that times are changing. There are many pro-life, conservative UAW workers who are very unhappy about their dues supporting the Democrats.
There are quite a few educated laborers in the auto plants. Please don't take this as a chastisement, but a suggestion, that we need to encourage labor towards conservatism, not ostracize them.
This does not sound like a "job loss" to me, but more like a reallocation. The production still has to be done, and it sounds like it is just happenening in another state.
1/2 are, but not all of them. The rest are indy or GOP. A lot of them are pro-lifers or pro-gunners as well.
Your right about many individuals, but the general UAW member is still of the "Republicans are bad because they are for big busines and against the little guy" mentality. Of course, you may be experiencing something different than me, different regions dealing with them, etc. In my daily dealings, I hear the rhetoric constantly spewing.
My favorite is, "Bush is making this country a socialist country." Then, "we need to elect JfnK to establish nationalized health care." I don't think they appreciated the hearty laugh I got out of that conversation.
Outsourcing to Ohio?
People who say things like this are so uninformed.
In Mpls, and St. Paul, the city councils are trying to force a no smoking ordinance in restaurants. A friend of mine said it was Bush's fault, because he wants to make this a socialist country. (homeland security, etc.)
Ah, so you're familiar with the way Ford operates? Amazing how systemic their method of operating is.
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