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....

[Old Professer]

Am I the only one who has noticed that it is never the sick people who pay for health care?

[Revolting cat!]

Here are Volvo and Infiniti to go with the Buick. Looking at the profiles (and not the grills), could anyone tell them apart?

And there are few others that look like this. I can usually recognize a Buick from the 1950s through 1980s. No mo, Mo!

[OpusatFR]

I sure don't have a personal problem, Bucko.

I see the longterm ramifications. Y'all seem to think that trees falling in forests make no sound.

[Spktyr]

The Aztek is Wagonner's baby, which is why they're *still* making it.

GM's styling is awful of late. Honda and Toyota's are acceptable - or at least not offensively bad. Me, I'm a Jaguar fan, and I like where Nissan's been going.

[blackie]

I refuse to share your misery, bucko.

Life is good!

Let The good Time Roll!

[beef]

"Starting with the great Chevy Vega with the aluminum block that burnt up after 30k miles"

My Dad owned a gas station back in the early '70s when you still got your gas pumped and oil checked. We could count on selling a quart of oil to every other Vega that pulled up. One guy hated his so much, he cut lemons out of yellow contact paper and stuck them all over his car. He's probably 60 now, and I'd bet good money he never bought another GM product. Their chickens have come home to roost. It's sad, but not surprising.

[TSgt]

"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"...."

O' man preach it brother! I owned a 97 Saturn (bought it new) and owned a 95 Accord (bought it when it was 3 years old). I put thousands of dollars into the Saturn for maintenance and only had to change the oil in the Accord.

This year I got rid of them both for two new cars. TWO NEW HONDA'S!

I even had a Saturn mechanic tell me that I couldn't compare a Honda to a Saturn because Honda's were so much better.

[RayChuang88]

In my humble opinion, here is what GM needs to do: totally re-arrange its divisions to minimize overhead and overlapping models.

I would structure GM like this:

Chevrolet--will become all family cars, from the small "captive import" Aveo all the way up to the Impala. The Chevrolet division will no longer sell SUV's, minivans and light trucks. The Corvette will stay a Chevrolet model due to long historical legacy linking Chevrolet with the Corvette model.

GMC--move all truck, SUV and minivan models to this division.

Cadillac--will remain GM's luxury division in the USA and increasingly Europe.

Opel/Vauxhall--will phase out Vauxhall name and have all European models sold as Opels.

The Buick and Pontiac divisions will be phased out.

[TSgt]

I agree with your analysis.

Rough times ahead.

God forbid we suffer a major terrorist attack...

Our economy would tank.

[Young Scholar]

There is no reason an executive's salary or bonus should have any relation to how much his employees make or how many of their jobs he preserves or cuts. The shareholders should pay him entirely on the basis of what he contributes to their company and its bottom line. There is nothing un-Christian about this view, and any other view is anti-capitalist.

[starbase]

The union mentality is really something! In a very small nutshell, I left home at a young age, put myself through college, and worked at some of the biggest companies in the world to get where I wanted to in life. I called a union carpenter to come over and just LOOK at a flooring job I wanted done (in the house I bought with my own efforts), and he wanted me to PAYYYYYYYY him to DRIVE over and LOOK at the floor!!!!!!!

Can you believe it? I who never thought anyone should give me anything am asked to PAY some bum for a drive. All the interviews I went to to get jobs, all my certifications I completed to make myself more valuable to the market, these things you must pay for yourself. And this guy just wants free money!

Another union guy was complaining in a bar that in two years the "companies" didn't have any work to "give" him. I asked why he didn't start his own business, he gave me a dirty look.

It's only natural they can't compete. I'm sure we all have such horror stories.

[Young Scholar]

This same poster, in another thread, called oil companies' profits "sinful." Not that s/he has anything against the free market or successful people, but...

[queenkathy]

Whoa wait a minute. We worked for our pension. and it isn't all that much btw. For those who already retired, we made our decision based on what they offered. How would anyone like it if they go to work tomorrow and find out that $10 an hr job just decided they need to cut it back to $5? I don't know about you, but I think it's coming. This is only the beginning.

[A CA Guy]

The unions constantly blackmail companies into spots where they pay and things like this happen.

Regarding your pension, you should get what you do based on what is left in it.
If there is a 100%, get that, if there is only 75%, then you get 75%, BUT NO WAY should American Taxpayers be expected to pay your pensions.
No pension welfare for union pensions.

[pctech]

Can we pin this one on NAFTA and GATT, or are the unions to blame for this monster?

[queenkathy]

I admit that even though we are members of a Union (UAW) we have never voted the way they tell us to.

The union of the 30's, 40's is not the same union of today to be sure. Unions have done some good things. Like the 40 hr work week and overtime pay for anything over 40 hrs. I worked for retail and believe me, if they could get you to work for free, they would have.

I just have many friends that will really be hurting, especially retirees. While the big union committee reps will get their own butts covered, we will be left holding the bag. Just my opinion.

[A CA Guy]

Bottom line is unions extracted agreements by threats to companies as a regular thing. Of course this had to happen regarding pensions.

American taxpayers should not expect to shoulder some form of welfare pension tax for unions.

Most people only get SS, unions many times get both.

Let the pension folks get a percentage of what is there and that is it. We taxpayers IMO should not pay for unions putting guns to the heads of business to extract outrageous benefits. This is my complaint with government unions, pay and pensions as well.

[starbase]

[Unions have done some good things. Like the 40 hr work week and overtime pay for anything over 40 hrs. ]

I agree completely, queenkathy, (superb tag line, by the way), but those contributions,while critical to the level of equality we enjoy in our lives today, are simply too historical to be trotted out anymore, in my opinion.

[ROTB]

Regarding your tagline ...

... all they that hate me love death.
Proverbs 8:36

[polymuser]

I've seen what goes on in many automotive plants over the years. The good employees see the same stuff. I assume the Robinson's aren't happy with a lot of what goes on in CA. Why was FR started?

Can you direct us to a website of conservative voices within the UAW?