GM Workers Face Bleak Future

(CBS)  At the General Motors assembly plant here in Orion, Mich., the chimneys churn out white plumes of smoke and freshly minted Pontiacs G6s and Chevrolet Malibus roll off the assembly line. It's a three-shift, 4,000 worker operation that runs 24 hours a day. But all that could be a memory in a matter of weeks.

GM announced Tuesday that it will seek as much as $18 billion in federal loans over the course of the next four months. Without the money, the world's largest automaker could collapse by the end of the year.

This has GM employee Joel Blatchford and his co-workers understandably on edge.

"It's probably the most frightening time I've ever experienced at GM," says Blatchford, a 23-year veteran of the company. "You work for this many years and you're counting on a future with a pension. You're getting close to paying things off ... and you're seeing the company go through a meltdown."

In order to cut costs, GM says it will shed dealerships and trim down to four main brands - Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. Pontiac will become a specialty label. It will also cut its workforce by more than 30,000 jobs in the next three years.

As for layoffs at the Orion factory, plant manager Gary Malkus says cuts are right around the corner. "We have announced that we will have a reduction in line speed in February and hundreds of people will be laid off."

Joel Persinger, a shop committeeman at the plant, compares GM's financial situation to that of a struggling family. "When times tighten up you have to look at what you're spending and cut any costs where you possibly can," he says.

But despite the bleak outlook, Persinger says GM is doing the right thing given the circumstances. "Honestly, I would run my household pretty damn close to what they're doing right now."

[jt_lancer]

Notice that none of the non-unionized foreign automakers with plants in the US are begging the government for a taxpayer handout. Competition is a b&tch, ain''t it?

[lloydbest1]

So far in this thread I have heard very little about the gross overcompensation of the executive suite and a whole lot about how much the line worker is being overpaid.
Maybe getting $28 per hour is a bit much for twisting a wrench but recieving (NOT earning, you''ll note) $600000 base salary and a 2007 bonus of another $46 million dollars for single handedly running a company into the ground (Wagoner) is beyond disgusting. NO one deserves that kind of an income - not even God. And especially NOT someone who has overseen the hemorrhage GM has undergone the past few years (yup, they lost money last year, too)
So, those of you who are throwing darts at the so-called fat contracts the assemblyman (or woman) are getting for doing nothing should direct your anger at the outratgeous salary and benefit packages that executive level managenent have recieved yearly for doing essentially the same thing.
If the UAW has to dial back a little - and they absolutely must(!), then the those at the top must dial back to nothing or the next thing to it and learn to live on their holdings until the crisis is past.

[memewolf]

Let the auto makers declare bankruptcy. There will be no more cutbacks or layoffs than they are already proposing to do to get the bailouts. I''m tired of seeing my money go to let large corporation CEO''s and top ex live high on hog while I have to cut out some of my food and medicine to make ends meet. While we''re at it let''s demand that congress vote to not accept a pay raise next year. If they don''t vote against it they get it.

[wl7bzh]

The way unions are going Jimmy Hoffa is probably rolling over his cement wetsuit.

[mrmeatspin]

When college students used to work the assmebly lines during their summer breaks, it would often take two of them to handle one job. Anyone who says line workers have an easy job is ignorant. The problem for displaced UAW workers is going to be and has always been that "real jobs" require a different skill-set and education.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by JoePack61 at 05:23 PM : Dec 04, 2008
+ report abuse


********

its pretty easy to mow a lawn, its so eaasy a caveman can do it batabing bataboom (its sad but its time to face reality)

[mrmeatspin]

and jobs have been shipped overseas for the last decade or so. A person cannot hold onto a house without a job.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by JoePack61 at 05:28 PM : Dec 04, 2008
+ report abuse


********

because of unions..like the UAW..its cheaper to send jobs overseas..(do you know how much a UAW member makes an hour?)

[mrmeatspin]

Starting around 2010, new UAW workers will start at $14.00 per hour pay. Illegal and legal Mexican landscapers and construction workers can make around $18.00 per hour pay, believe it or don%u2019t.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by JoePack61 at 05:15 PM : Dec 04, 2008
+ report abuse


********

cool now we can disband the UAW, deport all the illegal aliens and let the ex-UAW members pick produce, mow my lawn and bus my table..

2 problems solved

[joepack61]

Staplesla, why is housing a problem? Loans were made to people who couldn''t afford them, risky loans were made to speculators often for zero interst, we had a huge real estate bubble in 2003 that burst around 2005, and jobs have been shipped overseas for the last decade or so. A person cannot hold onto a house without a job.

[joepack61]

When college students used to work the assmebly lines during their summer breaks, it would often take two of them to handle one job. Anyone who says line workers have an easy job is ignorant. The problem for displaced UAW workers is going to be and has always been that "real jobs" require a different skill-set and education.

[joepack61]

Starting around 2010, new UAW workers will start at $14.00 per hour pay. Illegal and legal Mexican landscapers and construction workers can make around $18.00 per hour pay, believe it or don%u2019t.