GM to shut down for half of the first quarter.

[warlordblee]

Get ready for this years shut down, half of the first quarter. About fourteen GM plants are going to be down. All of you who don't think this will hurt your bottom line are living in dream land. Your first quarter bottom line is going to be nowhere near last years. You can thank the 35 Republicans who voted against the bridge loan, don't use the word bailout what they wanted was a bridge loan. The Republicans are trying to crush the union. The only senator north of the mason dixon line who voted agains was Norm Coleman from Minnesota. All of the Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania senators voted for the bridge loan, they get it and they realize what is at stakes. Here is the link.







GM to cut production by 250,000 autos in early '09 | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

 

[OntarioVanMan]

By not agreeing with wage cuts for 2009 and demanding to wait till 2011....maybe it;s the unions that don't get it?

My bottomline will be just fine without GM....instead of shuting down and playing the "game" why don't they just go chapter 11 and get it over with....sick of thier crying....

 

[Scott101]

Math isn't my strong point, but the vote was 52-35. 8 democrats either voted NO or didn't bother to vote at all. 60 votes would have passed the bill.

Looks like Joe Biden didn't even vote.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

They haven't stopped the bleeding!! What good will a meesly 15 billion do? Just stall the enavitable..thats only 5 billion each....

 

[Pilgrim]

The UAW is playing a game of chicken in hopes of getting a bailout from the White House, which now seems to be leaning toward giving them money from the TARP funds that were originally earmarked for financial institutions.

The collapse of the agreement was due to the UAW refusing make wage and benefit concessions that would make them competitive with the non-union plants in the South, and to agree on a date certain when these concessions would take effect. If the Bush administration steps in and bails out the union, the long term consequences will be much worse than the short term because the basic problem of becoming competitive is still not solved.

AFP: US Senate fails to reach deal on auto bailout

However, if GM is closing plants for the month of Jan you can figure that Chrysler isn't far behind. Regardless, the carriers that depend heavily on NLM business will probably be dead in the water during the first quarter of '09.

 

[Pilgrim]

Here's another really good article detailing the compensation being given the Big Three/UAW assembly workers. Unless and until these overhead labor costs are brought under control, the unionized American auto makers will never be competitive with the non-union manufacturers.

UAW Workers Actually Cost the Big Three Automakers $70 an Hour

 

[LDB]

Sounds like the only ones who don't get it are the UAW decision makers. I'd be "thanking" the UAW before I "thanked" sensible politicians for voting no to a plan that didn't include sensible UAW concessions.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

and if they are laidoff they get what 90% of thier wages? and no commuting expenses? Its just a paid holiday for them....they take no loss from a lay-off.

 

[chefdennis]

I just looked, and i haven't had a load to or from anything afiliated with GM / Delphi in the last 6 wks. No sweat off me back.

And yea you can Thank those that voted against this BAILOUT for stopping it. The uaw thought they could play like they do when it is contract talk time, well they got their bluff called.

Bush will BAIL THEM OUT.Personally I say screw em let them file BK and fire every union worker that doesn
that to take a pay cut and benefit cut and increased co-pays, there are thousands of people that will gladly take their places.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

There 1,000's and 1,000's of bank workers looking for work that would love 20 bucks an hour!!!....

 

[highway star]

The only thing I've heard Bush say about the bailout is that he wonders about loaning billions to companies that may not be around to pay it back. Sounds like simple common sense to me.

As far as the freight, I'm not hauling GM either. But, the one's that are will be competing for our freight if GM's goes away. C'mon people, I shouldn't have to tell you this.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

The only thing I've heard Bush say about the bailout is that he wonders about loaning billions to companies that may not be around to pay it back. Sounds like simple common sense to me.

As far as the freight, I'm not hauling GM either. But, the one's that are will be competing for our freight if GM's goes away. C'mon people, I shouldn't have to tell you this.

yeah Star I know that...me thinks so do the others...i hope....E-1 is already down to about 20 NLM loads already from a 100 a day....20 more ain't going to matter much....at the rate people are quiting and not being replaced...at least at E-1 they froze new hires on vans...

 

[ATeam]

As I read the story in the New York Times and in the link provided above, GM is not closing plants for half the first quarter. It is closing plants for one-third of the first quarter, or about a month.

The Times story goes on to say that the shutdown is not related to the bailout but to the fact that people are not purchasing many cars right now. Honda is making production cuts for the same reason.

It is a small point, perhaps, as GM is circling the bowl with or without a bailout, or bridge loan if you prefer. Still, an accurate reporting of known facts is more welcome than an innacurate one.

 

[buckeyewildman]

break the union i nothing absolutly nothing wrong with that they are nothing but a bunch of greedy nitwits as are the leaders of GM and Ford i am talking about the union leaders i say no concessions no money until they bring there pay in line with some of the others yes i am talking about getting in line with Toyota Honda etc; ask any one that works at these plants and they are very happy with what they make at least these people have the common sense to take care of there own retirement such as 401 k,s or money market what ever it takes to do the job and not depending on some union that is lining there pockets first then going back to gm and ford and saying we need more more more MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE well you all get yhe point so i say let them go under i would rather own a toyota after all it is made entirly in America name me one gm or ford or chrysler that is

 

[Oilerman1957]

Hey, I have a thought, Why not bring up the pay of the foreign autoworkers pay and benefits? Wouldnt that be good? Why keep dropping everyones pay? They are only all middle class workers trying to make a buck.

 

[mjolnir131]

By not agreeing with wage cuts for 2009 and demanding to wait till 2011....maybe it;s the unions that don't get it?

My bottom line will be just fine without GM....instead of shutting down and playing the "game" why don't they just go chapter 11 and get it over with....sick of thier crying....

The unions have not gotten it for years,case in point IH,Case,White,Cats near bankruptcy in the 80s,the list is long now.

Outside of wages and benefits a company's concerns and it's employees concerns should be identical,but thats not union thinking,since the mid 70s the unions as a collective body have only had one function really take a big cut of the workers money and get the place closed down

 

[LDB]

Hey, I have a thought, Why not bring up the pay of the foreign autoworkers pay and benefits? Wouldnt that be good? Why keep dropping everyones pay? They are only all middle class workers trying to make a buck.

Sure, let's just make everyone's pay $500,000 a year for every job including ours. Why should jobs pay a reasonable amount when with unionization they can pay more than the work product can support?

 

[highway star]

Now, hold on Leo. If the assembly line guys get a half mil, we should get more. We have expenses they don't have.

 

[mjolnir131]

Sure, let's just make everyone's pay $500,000 a year for every job including ours. Why should jobs pay a reasonable amount when with unionization they can pay more than the work product can support?

great point however i do have to say there is merit in the Japanese system where the lowest paid employee and the highest has a set limit.that way the people who never see the customer are not making 10-20 times what the daily take care of things people are making

 

[FIS53]

GM and Chrysler have both declared plant closings in Ontario up to the second week in feb. This includes the minivan plant in windsor and the car plant in Oshawa. The CAW (cdn version of UAW) has also said that wage concessions are not something they are really looking at as they did that on their last contract etc. Both Honda and Toyota have reduced production at their plants up here but haven't announced any layoffs.

It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next month as the auto companies weather the lost sales and the demand for fuel efficient buggies of which the big 3 are lacking for the most part. GM has done a bit in the fuel economy with several models not too bad but the vehicles are not really exciting. I know MB offered Chrysler their smaller diesels to install i their pickups but Chrysler management turned them down saying cusotmers wanted the cummins unit and the dakota did not need such an engine. I think the dakota would have made a great diesel pickup with the unit in the Sprinters.

I was talking with a marketing guy yesterday and he was speculating that when this recession finishes he figures that after the first few months of recovery the economy will then take off and actually be good for all. He based this idea on some of the belt tightening he is seeing in a couple of different industries and basically the preparations for the return to production with a leaner setup. Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.
Rob