Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, October 16, 2008

More Layoffs

General Motors is laying off 1,600 employees.


Included are 700 workers at GM's Pontiac, Mich., pickup truck plant, another 500 workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck car assembly plant, and 400 at a two-seat sports car assembly plant in Wilmington, Del.

These are sad times people. May God help us.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sucks.

Anonymous said...

Where's the bail out for these people! This is a Damn Shame! Those of us still with jobs should throw a prayer up for these people.

Anonymous said...

why feel sorry, they are making out good

During the layoff, workers will get close to full pay and benefits through supplemental pay and state unemployment. After 48 weeks they go into a jobs bank in which the company pays 85 percent of their salaries, plus benefits. Within two years, the workers could lose pay and benefits if they don't transfer to another plant.

Anonymous said...

Maybe GM should try making decent cars.

Anonymous said...

3:25, The feeling a man has in his gut when he works at his job everyday to support his family can not be replaced by supplemental pay for a period of time. you sir are a jack-ass.

Anonymous said...

And in the event that God doesn't help, what's the plan?

Anonymous said...

WAR

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the bull@@@t that some idiots will post on this website!
3:25 You are full of crap! That is not what will happen to those people. The jobs bank is long gone at GM.
3:47 Maybe you should wake up and smell the coffee! GM has been winning awards for best in class on a number of cars and truck, and has been at the top in J. D Powers quality surveys. The fact is that Americans are becoming more and more expedient with their purchases and will buy any P.O.S. japanese car because they're uninformed about true quality, and the Jap cars are cheap, and cheaply made.
America, you are doing this to yourself!
Do you think this recession isn't related to all the poeple buying Jap cars and the real scum bags that buy Korean cars?
The housing crisis started in Michigan! See any connection?
When ya screw your neighbor it comes back to bite you!
Just keep buying that Jap, Chinese, and Korean crap and watch what this country will look like in a few more years. Poeple that buy Jap cars should be ashamed of themselves!

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, John McCain will help.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the car makers should stop redesigning cars every year.
This only leads to not only more costs of goods sold, but it leaves the buyers having a harder time getting reasonably priced and compatible parts.
Do we really need a new version of every vehicle every year? I don't think so.

It is sad that these people will be losing their jobs but this is just the beginning folks.
Where I work, I'm counting the days basically wondering when the ax is going to fall on everybody.
Unless you have a product high in demand right now, you are not selling. It's only a matter of time before the bosses stop paying and close the doors.

Anonymous said...

Is the price of GM's stock still six dollars? That could be a good investment, not much to risk. I worked for a guy when the stocks he had with Three Mile Island and Crysler were belly up. I used to jab him about it, he always told me he would never sell either.

He always said if he could he would have bought more Three Mile Island stock but at the time, shares were not being sold. They both rebounded.

Anonymous said...

This 4:28 fool will just love me.I have been an auto tech for over 30 years,and I have seen the good,bad and the ugly.Yes,American autos can give you some good products,but only rarely and recently.Overall,Japanese like lexus and toyota are your best value.I own toyota landcruiser,Honda Odessey,Subaru Outback,Lexus RX300 and two Volvo wagons.GREAT AUTOS!

Anonymous said...

4:28 PM -

I have owned 5 cars in my life.

2 honda's made in Japan. Ran great with more than 250k miles on each of them. I would have kept them longer, but for accidents and the cost to repair. Very little maintenance required - 1 cat back exhaust, 1 set of struts, and the normal tires, breaks, etc. Other than normal road wear, the cars still looked good.

1 Toyota made in japan. Got 20% better gas mileage than EPA estimates, running at 35+ MPG. Nothing other than normal maintenance in more than 150k. It was sad that somebody pulled out in front of me, but I was lucky that the car kept me safe.

1 GM made car. Everything started falling apart at 125k. By 175k, had the following work done: 2 mufflers, 2 sets of struts, 3 of 4 CV joints, headliner falling down, clearcoat peeling off, and there was an oil leak in the bottom of the engine. When the tranny seized up it was time to get rid of the POS. The only good thing that I can say about this car was that it had a timing chain, so that saved me three very expensive maintenance visits vs a timing belt.

It's important to note that I only use OEM parts. The after market stuff is junk and that 15% you save in parts and labor is going to get you spending more time and money in the shop over the long haul.

I've driven a ton of domestic cars for work, and I've seen the maintenance required to keep them on the road.

My parents prefer domestic cars. I know that they have had significantly more repairs necessary for the amount of miles that they drive. GM and Dodge have been the worst overall.

When it was time to buy a new car, I got another Honda. I've seen first hand that they cost significantly less per mile to drive, they hold their resale value MUCH better, and they are generally more comfortable and fun to drive at the price points that I can afford.

I'd gladly buy a domestic car if it was proven reliable, economical, comfortable, and actually made in America using American parts (none of that Chinese parts assembled in Mexico crap accepted). Ford, GM, and Chrysler have about 6 years to get their act together.

Anonymous said...

job bank gone?

guess the union lied to the ap when they gave them that info yesterday