GM to cut 30,000 jobs

Reuters, Bloomberg | 21 Nov, 2005 | Self

[12B]

Breaking on Bloomberg and Reuters. GM will cut 30,000 jobs in massive restructuring. More....

[GunnyHartman]

"They do need better cars."

Just watched Car and Driver television this past Saturday. There was a mid sized truck showdown. Dead last was the Chevy Colorado. The hood vibrated furiously on the highway, the fit and finish were very bad and it was the most gutless of all the tested vehicles in the quarter mile. Oh yeah, it costs $28,000.00!

[doodad]

I'm playing it on my guitar right now. Had not thought of that song in years.

[Thermalseeker]

You summed it up nicely and succinctly. It's not about unions or pensions, "it's the cars, stupid."

I wholeheartedly disagree and here's why. Some years ago, shortly after I graduated college, I took a job with a major fire alarm manufacturer. One of my first job assignments was to install some fire alarm components at the GM plant in Doraville, GA.

I arrived at the shipping dock and started to unload my van with the various components I was to install. I was immediately stopped by a UAW dockworker who informed me that I could not unload my vehicle because I was taking work away from a union worker. I had to fill out a request to get a union dockworker to unload my parts onto a cart. After roughly an hour and a half the dockworker finally showed up and loaded my parts onto a cart. I started pushing the cart towards the area where I was to do my work and I was told that I could not push my own cart because I was taking work away from a union worker. After filling out another request and waiting another hour a union cart pusher finally showed up and pushed my cart full of part to the first area where I was to install my stuff. As I started to install my components, I was told by a supervisor that I could not do what I was doing because I was taking work away from a union electrician. Another request for an electrician was filled out and I waited another hour and a half for this guy to show up. This union "professional" didn't have a clue as to how to install my parts, but I was required to have him present because to do otherwise would be taking work away from a union worker, even though he didn't lift a finger to help with the install. It went on like this all day. Long story short, instead of what should have taken about 2 hours to install wound up taking all day and part of the next. Needless to say, my non-union employer was not at all pleased.

GM's problems are multifaceted, but the union influence, IMO, is by far their worst enemy. With the attitude I experienced at this union controlled plant, along with several others I worked in, it is no wonder GM can't compete on a global scale.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Chees too. Drive the Lucerne, our cheesiest car yet.

LOL

[ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY]

They do need better cars.
You summed it up nicely and succinctly. It's not about unions or pensions, "it's the cars, stupid."

I see you haven't driven a GM vehicle in quite some time! Granted during the late 70s and 80s quality control was abysmal, but they learned their lessons; they've been making great cars since. However, management wasn't too bright in terminating their best middle-class car line--Oldsmobile!

[listenhillary]

Definitions of Lucerne on the Web:

alfalfa: important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

[aShepard]

....."A company producing and selling quality vehicles would be able to absorb the effects of the union parasite".....

And, just wait to see the quality of GM cars in a rapid dive, as workers who will be laid off don't give a sh!t to even show up; or survivers who don't understand their new responsibilies from those who were laid off; or decide to sabotage production for their own reasons.

Customers are going to have to be very careful on taking delivery of a GM auto built after 11/20/05.

[HamiltonJay]

WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY OVERDUE!

I am not one ot cheer the layoff of fellow americans, but this action is so overdue its rediculous. What will be interesting will be to see how many middle and upper managers get the boot... as GM has at least 3 to 5 times the number of people in these positions as it should.

[lone star annie]

GM's demise is utimately the fault of management. Look at the crap they produce--anyone checked out the new Malibu? I would not be caught driving that to a hog killing.

The worst cars I have ever owned were GM products. Starting with the great Chevy Vega with the aluminum block that burnt up after 30k miles and cost this poor college student a fortune. The second was a Monte Carlo that was the worst POS I have ever driven. The only GM car I ever owned that was somewhat worth anything was an Olds Cutlass, but of course the brilliant leadership of GM discontinued the Olds.

The best cars I have ever owned were Japanese made--Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota and Mazda. My husband just bought a new Toyota Solara convertible for 28k with all the bells and whistles, including awesome styling, and great quality.

GM just does not have the styling and it is too late to get the edge over the Toyota, Honda etc.

[conservativecorner]

Very true, but when everyone is a civil servant you have the small problem of 0 GDP. Look no further than France or Germany, although somewhat different, to see the results of this misguided thinking.

[GOPJ]

If the only way to get rid of Unions is to let companies go bankrupt, then let them go bankrupt.

[Sthitch]

An incompetently run company saddled with a corrupt and greedy union can only lead to one thing, the death of both.

[apackof2]

You and I are remember when GM's troubles started.when then firstput a Chevy engine inside Oldsmobiles

Yes that's a large part of the problem besides the Union

When beancounters took over from carmakers

[CSM]

""Lucerne".whatever the hell that means
It's a city on a lake in Switzerland famous for a old wooden bridge that partially burned."

---

Oh my, that is funny, I don't care who you are! Naming a Buick the "burned bridge" is just to much!

[al_c]

Maybe if they'd build cars that people actually like then they'd sell more and make more profit. Most GM cars are lame, boring vehicles. Being a life-long Chevy fan, I've been pretty disappointed in their latest offerings.

[COBOL2Java]

Buick's big new model for 2006 is the "Lucerne".

Oh, great. Their new model is named after skim milk. Yeah, I'll want one of those!

[CSM]

Health insurance was actually caused by wage freezes by the government back in the depression timeframe (I think the timing was then.) Anyway, companies began offering benefits when wages could not be offered.

Thanks to a meddlesome government, people were no longer free to enter into private contracts with other private people.

The solution? Increase minnimum wage and force all employers to offer health coverage, of course.

[randog]

Sad. But necessary considering GM isn't in the Auto manufacturing business anymore..........Health care is their new business.......

I forgot who said it, but goes something like this: "When you buy a Korean car you get a satellite radio; when you buy an American car you get a retirement plan."

[finnman69]

I can imagine the im-in-union-hell it must be to attempt any kind of construction, renovation at any automobile plant.

Uselsess busybodies interjecting themselves to pad the coffers.

[Yossarian]

Interesting - they're closing the Saturn plant in Spring Hill TN. This was of course famous in the 80s and 90s for the special "better cooperation" labor agreement worked out between GM and the UAW for that plant only.

Does anybody know if Saturn workers still work under different terms than the rest of GM's UAW workers? If so, I wonder how this will affect further labor agreements.

Maybe GM's trying to say "nothing is sacred". More probably, GM is saying "We designed and made made really crappy Saturn small cars for 5 years now, and the plant does us no good"....