Auto Industry

[MoniqueU]

Imagine if this were the teachers union we were talking about. The dis would definetly have a different spin on things. I think the teachers untion and the auto industry mirror each other in a lot of ways.

And I don't feel sorry for either one. Try working in the real world with realistic wages, benefits and no job protection. Yes i know some teachers don't make much but here in CA they make a darn good living and are impossible to fire no matter how much they stink.

 

[RitaZ.]

Thank you...I think she will do her Masters and hopefully there will be an upswing in the economy and jobs will open up in time. She has worked very hard to get where she is.

Engineering is a tough discipline.

 

[S. C.]

Engineering/Chemistry..Biomedical, Pharmaceutical ..those fields for example.

Oh and S.C..my daughter has NO job let alone a high paying job! Despite many thousands of dollars and 5 years to educate her. She will now do her Masters to the tune of another $30,000+ dollars and still, no guarantees. Life's like that, for all of us. Even in the Auto Industry.

Are you looking for sympathy for her being jobless? Or because you paid that much for her education? Won't get it here! I know lots of folks who wish they made $30k a year.

 

[S. C.]

Imagine if this were the teachers union we were talking about. The dis would definetly have a different spin on things. I think the teachers untion and the auto industry mirror each other in a lot of ways.

And I don't feel sorry for either one. Try working in the real world with realistic wages, benefits and no job protection. Yes i know some teachers don't make much but here in CA they make a darn good living and are impossible to fire no matter how much they stink.

It's a good thing you feel like that. So when the economy goes in the gutter even further and affects your family and friends you won't have to worry about them either.

 

[wdw4us2]

In my opinion, this is what happens when you put bean counters/money men in charge of the company instead of car guys/engineers.

Instead of building what people want, you build what will make the most profit in the short term. This is the problem with most of our troubled industry in this country.

 

[S. C.]

In my opinion, this is what happens when you put bean counters/money men in charge of the company instead of car guys/engineers.

Instead of building what people want, you build what will make the most profit in the short term. This is the problem with most of our troubled industry in this country.

But they were building what the people wanted. People could no longer afford their SUVs after gas prices shot up.

 

[bicker]

The blame, if there is any, rests on society as a whole. While it may help assuage our own guilt to try to place blame on certain people or entities, the economic troubles are the result of a group effort, by all of us, and we all are responsible. Misdirecting blame, now, on to a few, just confounds. It provides a distraction, just like throwing water balloons at people walking down the street provides distraction, and is just as constructive.

 

[MAH4546]

I agree, GM does need to come out as a lean, mean auto company.

But if GM goes under now, it's going to put the economy into MORE than just a recession. When I say 'goes under', I'm not talking about bankruptcy, I'm talking about a complete liquidation.

By the way, I didn't work at GM, I worked for an automotive components supplier. It was not part of GM.

Total myth.

GM has a lot of great plants, some decent engine and hybrid technology, etc., etc.

A liquidated GM would be quickly snapped up by foreign investors and rebuilt with foreign money. It would be great, but instead we essentially are creating Socialist Motors. And the products will still suck. And I sure as hell won't buy a GM vehicle, or a Chrysler, for as long as I live after having ripped me off as a tax payer.

Look at what Fiat is about to do to Chrysler.

As ridiculously overpaid American factory union workers are, it's actually cheaper than in Europe, and European car companies are still looking for opportunities to build more cars in the U.S. - hence Volkswagen's new $1B plant in Tennessee and Fiat's new 35% stake in Chrysler.

 

[wall*e2008]

In my opinion, this is what happens when you put bean counters/money men in charge of the company instead of car guys/engineers.

Instead of building what people want, you build what will make the most profit in the short term. This is the problem with most of our troubled industry in this country.

They built what Americans wanted. Americans wanted ginormous SUVs and Detroit built them. Now Americans cannot afford ginormous SUVs.

GM has been losing money for over 3 years. That was before the economy went south. In reality the SUVs were hiding the real problems at GM and the UAW.

 

[bicker]

That's a good point... the problems were not just product-related. The incredibly high cost structure was a big part of the problem.

 

[minnie56]

Are you looking for sympathy for her being jobless? Or because you paid that much for her education? Won't get it here! I know lots of folks who wish they made $30k a year.

Not looking for sympathy at all for either. We always felt it was our duty to provide the best education we were able to in order that both of our daughters are able to have the best life they could. I am also not looking for any taxpayers money to help bail her out either! That's the point.

 

[TheZue]

I totally get where you are coming from. We are over 1000 miles from anyone who is employed by the auto industry, it's really a small pocket of the Canadian economy in terms of geography. We are looking at our first deficiet in FOURTEEN YEARS. Think about that, the government covered it's expenses for fourteen years in this country...and it took a lot of pain to get rid of the structural deficiet and now we are going to have to go through it again. Some of our provinces don't even have debt, Alberta literally is completely out of debt and saves money for a rainy day. Now the auto workers are getting a bailout to save their jobs to the tune of 1.5 million dollars per worker's job, it's crazy and no I don't think we'd be paying a million and a half each on their social safety net. What if this doesn't work? Did we just flush all that money down the toilet. I'd rather they faked a lottery and just paid those people out, at least they'd be guarenteed to actually get the money lol. You can see how that is rubbing a lot of us the wrong way. I feel bad for them, but all I can think when I see that our country is racking up debt for the first time since I left home is a long string of explatives.

And yes they should have saved more. I have lots of relatives of that age group, some had cushy union jobs, including some in government. Every single one of them has a retirement fund to supplement it. But that doesn't really matter now. Either way me, my children, and my grandchildren will pay for their lack of planning because we have years of pain to get rid of our debt when this is finished. When I'm paying higher taxes for reduced services in a few years I'll think "gee wouldn't it have been nice if people hadn't JUST relied on their pension".

 

[ols386]

Not looking for sympathy at all for either. We always felt it was our duty to provide the best education we were able to in order that both of our daughters are able to have the best life they could. I am also not looking for any taxpayers money to help bail her out either! That's the point.

I do wish your daughter the best, regarding her education and finding employment.

 

[Pin Wizard]

If they hadn't lost any of my sympathy before, they certainly did when I had the radio on in the car headed to work. They mentioned how the starting pay in the past was around $28 an hour for someone without a degree. They said the same job now starts them at $14. Yea! No sympathy at all.

 

[S. C.]

Not looking for sympathy at all for either. We always felt it was our duty to provide the best education we were able to in order that both of our daughters are able to have the best life they could. I am also not looking for any taxpayers money to help bail her out either! That's the point.

Glad to hear it. And I also wish your daughter the best. Just the way you were coming across before you were very angry that you had to send your kid back to college and spend another $30k to further her education because others were taking jobs the entry level college kids would of had. The ones taking those jobs I'm sure are the ones with years of experience that have lost their prior jobs and also have a family to feed.

 

[S. C.]

When will people understand that YOU are responsible for taking care of YOU. I work at a job where I should receive a nice pension and health benefits in retirement. However, I KNOW that it isn't written in stone and those things, for one reason or another, are not a sure thing.

Hence I am paying down debt, paying off my house early, saving for retirement, and doing all I can to put myself in a position where the pension and health benefits would be nice but I could survive if I don't get them.

Why should I expect to bail out other people who spent every dime they made, even though they made good money, and counted on a pension and health benefits being there forever. People, please learn to rely on yourselves and plan for your own future, because I don't have enough money to provide for me AND all of you.

Call me insensitive if you like - flame away.

This theory may not apply if you worked for minimum wage but no one at the automakers was making minimum wage all these years.

What you and some of the others here don't realize is. Autoworkers did save money for their future and just like everyone else lost lots of those savings in their 401ks. You sound as if it was one big party with autoworkers spending everything they ever made.

While there are people in all walks of life and job skills that do live high off the hog and spend every penny. I do believe most are intelligent enough to know that they need to have a nest egg.

BTW: It is the COMPANIES that are being bailed out. Just like the banks did. My taxpayer money also went to bail out the banks, I wonder if some of your money in the bank was saved from that!

 

[minnie56]

Glad to hear it. And I also wish your daughter the best. Just the way you were coming across before you were very angry that you had to send your kid back to college and spend another $30k to further her education because others were taking jobs the entry level college kids would of had. The ones taking those jobs I'm sure are the ones with years of experience that have lost their prior jobs and also have a family to feed.

Not sure where you interpreted anger...I said 'Life is like that' meaning no guarantees for anyone. Auto workers included.

 

[S. C.]

And I sure as hell won't buy a GM vehicle, or a Chrysler, for as long as I live after having ripped me off as a tax payer.

Don't ever use the banks again either. And don't ever buy any gasoline, because they sure ripped us all off with all of that price gouging.

 

[wdw4us2]

But they were building what the people wanted. People could no longer afford their SUVs after gas prices shot up.

However, at the time the engineers were working on hydrogen cell electric cars during the SUV boom as well as many other different types of vehicles. The money men wouldn't approved them for production since it was easier to make the high profit SUVs - they were just looking at the bottom line, not the future of the industry.

That's why I made my statement about the collapse of the auto industry. Money men are only interested in the bottom line and profitability - not visionary auto designers/engineers.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

It's interesting. Even thru work we have received some "deals" with Mazda where they give us the same discount they give their employees. Ford has had some really good deals recently to.

It's crazy to see how quickly things have changed in the industry and how much those dealerships can suffer by the economy. Not something I had ever given much thought about.

Thanks for sharing the article, interesting insight.