While thankfully that hasn't occurred, today GM announced workforce cuts of around 15% of workers, the closing of five plants, and that the Chevy Cruze, Chevy Impala, Chevy Volt, Buick Lacrosse, and Cadillac CT6 will no longer be produced.
The question, really, is whether this is the UAW tax or something else. In this case, GM asked for 8000 workers to accept buyouts, but only 2250 did. Going way out on a limb, I'm guessing that the huge pension cuts for salaried workers in 2009-2010 made them unwilling to take a buyout that might be snatched from them--and that has everything to do with Obama's UAW bailout, which maintained pay scales that cost GM $25 more per hour than Toyota and Honda pay in our country.
Others might point out that this also has a lot to do with the fact that GM doesn't really have anything to compete with Honda or Toyota sedans, or frankly with Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Lexus luxury vehicles, and while I'd agree, I'd also point out that engineers worried about being laid off, and who have seen former colleagues get
Sad to say--and I write this as the owner of two GM vehicles and the son-in-law of a UAW retiree--I don't foresee good things for them in the future unless this changes in a major way.
2 comments:
Agree with this 100%. I drive a Honda Accord, by the way. Built in Ohio. My old Chevy Lumina was made in the Canadian plant they are going to close.
Am considering the Accord myself when my 1997 Sierra finally bites the dust....hopefully they'll still offer the manual, since I love that "cheap theft insurance option". That or the Golf Sportwagen for the same reasons, plus I don't need a pickup anymore.
Along these lines, it strikes me that technically speaking, the biggest reason for GM's plunge here (and Ford's, really) is the failure of the "Detroit 3" to master multi-speed transmissions and high-revving engines, along with unibody construction. Really, there are no huge secrets to making an Accord or Camry. You just have to commit to doing it and doing it right.
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