GM to idle Detroit plant due to American Axle strike (Could Cut 40,000 Jobs From U.S Payrolls)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Reuters

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to shut down a Detroit assembly plant on Monday because of parts shortages caused by a strike against a key supplier that have now idled almost half of GM's factory work force in North America.

The planned shutdown of the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant takes the number of GM plants partly or fully idled by the month-long strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc (AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to 30, GM spokesman Tom Wickham said on Friday.

The plant, which makes the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne sedans, will be the first car plant to be idled by the walkout at American Axle. Other idled assembly plants make trucks and SUVs such as the Chevrolet Silverado and the Hummer H3.

Wickham said GM would completely shut down the Detroit-Hamtramck plant although some workers would stay on for maintenance and repair. There is no immediate plan to shut down additional plants, Whickham said.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN2830433720080328

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And this: http://www.laborradio.org/node/8214

By Doug Cunningham

If the UAW strike at American Axle doesn’t end soon, GM will be forced in April to shut down the first auto plant shuttered by the strike. GM has already stopped or slowed down production at 29 plants involved with making trucks, vans and SUV’s. UAW workers at American Axle are the victims of an assault by the company on their wages and benefits. Because the profitable American Axle wants to cut wages in half and slash benefits, as many as 40,000 jobs could be cut from U.S. payrolls in March according to economist Brian Bethune. Bethune says that would cut three tenths of a percent from U.S. economic growth this quarter.

[Debi]

1. Geez, that's not good

I don't think Michigan can take much more bad news.

[mrcheerful]

4. Worse yet is the Govner of Michigan is getting the blame for those job

losses. Some in this state thought Granholm should have used the NG to stop businesses from leaving the state or gave them more tax breaks to encourage them to stay. Never mind the fact that the puke majority got tax breaks for these businesses and they still skipped out. Then theres the blame the union and greedy workers crowd saying the workers should be grateful that they have jobs and should have taken a cut in their pay to show how grateful they were. Never mind the fact that the CEO of said business got a multi million dollar bonus, after all he earned his bonus but the workers don't need to earn more then $10 an hour or benefits such as health care.

Here is what some of the bright people in michigan said about it.........http://midmichiganforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2661

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. 50% reduction in pay!?!

:wow:

[Hannah Bell]

3. yes, 50%. like the reductions gm & ford recently forced on

new workers. this is the new status quo. axle is resisting.

[redqueen]

6. Yup.

Gotta compete in the global economy (race to the bottom).

[Parche]

5. We Dont Need To Be Making More SUV's Anyway

:grr: :grr:

:hi:

[redqueen]

7. Spot on.

[TommyO]

8. The first two vehicles listed are cars

[Hannah Bell]

9. Does that have something to do with workers' pay being

cut in half?

[Psephos]

11. Cuz those plants couldn't ever be retooled to make something else

and besides, fuck the workers. And fuck Michigan. har-har The nerve of that loser state to make something other than mopeds and Priuses. lol

[Parche]

12. no

Butt they shouldnt be making SUV's as in the end it all comes back to oil prices
and it gets them in the front or in the back end every time..

:hi:

[Hannah Bell]

13. Wow, they're dumb. I wonder why they keep doing it? n/t

[Psephos]

16. Product development cycles are 5-7 years in the auto biz

If you think they're going to keep the product mixes in the future that were planned at the turn of the millennium then you don't understand how that business works.

Meanwhile, many "progressives" continue to delight at the fall of US automakers, and bad-mouth them at any chance, which amplifies the plight of the actual working-class people whose jobs are evaporating.

US carmakers can justly be called stupid in hindsight. However, the wage structure of the US industry for the last 20 years has required the sale of high-profit big cars over low-profit (or unprofitable) little cars. Industry and union alike share the blame for that, kicking the globalization can down the road by demanding and agreeing to world-leading wages and benefits. This ceded the small-car market to offshore competitors. Might have made some short-term sense when oil was $30/bbl. Now it's time for union and companies alike to rue their lack of vision.

[DainBramaged]

18. You waste page space, most here could care less about the Unions and middle class

wage structures. Some of the responses here are dreadful, but typical of DU.

[Freedom Train]

21. Thanks for a common sense post

The whole situation is sad. Our auto industry has taken so many wrong turns, I fear it's going to get even worse for them before it gets any better. It seems if you're an auto worker, the best thing would be to get a job for one of the Asian companies who run plants here. I know a guy who works for Honda in Ohio, and he says he wouldn't make the switch to one of the Big Three for anything.

[DainBramaged]

19. Again, you are wrong

Do you know how many SUVs Toyota, Nissan and Honda make?

THIS ISN'T ABOUT THE CARS THEY FUCKING MAKE BUT A LIVING WAGE FOR THE WORKERS WHO MAKE THE PARTS TO ASSEMBLE THE CARS. These aren't imported parts like the Japanese and Koreans use, they are MADE here.

[fujiyama]

24. They make a lot of SUVs to compete with domestic automakers

but they do make compromises in terms of the materials and engines used. They are often smaller and lighter. Those are the trade offs. Many of their vehicles are more fuel efficient and Toyota especially has invested more in Hybrid research. They also offer OPTIONS to buy smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles and have improved upon their vehicles year after year. Toyota and Honda each offer a flagship car in two classes that they stuck with. Ford meanwhile introduces a car, discontinues it, brands it as something else, and then reintroduces the same old car...Talk about dimwitted and clueless.. Domestic companies are now playing catch up in building a quality vehicle (and for the most have much improved in this regard). But they have a way to go with fuel consumption. And as I heard a manager arrogantly say at Ford "we're not necessarily even here to make the most fuel efficient car".

But having worked at a foreign auto company and a domestic company, it's worth listening to the other posters - they have some good points. The lay offs and wage restructuring were inevitable and if the US was going to compete in a global market place especially with Asian automakers, rough times were bound to occur.

However, I think the main problem is that it comes down to two things - greedy CEOs/unbalanced out of whack pay scale for execs and lack of universal healthcare. That costs American companies a lot. And the pension plans are hurting them. And you will NEVER see a Japanese or Korean CEO/exec making 100s of times more than the average employee, especially when a company is in the state that GM or Ford is in. That's a cultural issue we have peculiar to the largely unregulated form of capitalism we have (compared to Europe and Asia).

Also, we have to look at what can be done to get these jobs back and why jobs have moved south. We know why Toyota has built plants in "right to work" states. But at the same time, why have the workers there refused to join the UAW? It's an even tougher sell when domestic companies are laying off so many. And I know that Toyota at this moment offers better benefits for white collar workers than domestic automakers. Will we force workers at companies to unionize even if they don't want to?

[DainBramaged]

25. Well said

Also, we have to look at what can be done to get these jobs back and why jobs have moved south. We know why Toyota has built plants in "right to work" states. But at the same time, why have the workers there refused to join the UAW? It's an even tougher sell when domestic companies are laying off so many.

It has everything to do with the threat of job losses in areas where they can ill afford to lose jobs, and the mistrust built for the UAW by Japanese management. The Transplants also suffer high absenteeism and difficulty in getting QUALIFIED workers at these plants, in spite of their best efforts to train the people working there. Which was one of the primary reasons Toyota chose Canada for their last assembly plant and not the deep South. And we will never know what the REAL compensation is for the CEO's of the Japanese and Korean transplants, having worked for Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and Sanyo in decades past and running into the wall of secrecy surrounding their inner workings.


45000 people applied for 2500 jobs at the new KIA Training center being built in Georgia, 45000. What does that tell you about the economy?

No one acknowledges that when the layoff's come the white collar middle management workers are always the fisrt to go in the Big Three, making it more difficult for the dealers in the field. But the continued beating down of the Unions will not stop until we get the Republicans OUT of the White House and Congress and re-instill protections for the American worker and middle class again.


Thanks for your contribution.

[fujiyama]

26. I noticed some secrecy in the Japanese companies...

and there is considerable paranoia at the management levels as well.

But regarding the salary of management, while some of it may not be greatly transparent at Asian companies, there is little doubt that our executives are making WAY too much. There is just no way to even match what US executives and CEOs make. I don't think there is any accountability either. Why do American execs and CEOs bank so much when the companies are doing so poorly? You would never see that in an Asian company.

Also, the business decisions reflect the short term thinking that is typical of American companies in general.

As for the situation with "right to work" states, I really don't know what can be done in the short term. Republicans and corporate America have done an especially good job in convincing people that unions will drive out business from a state. You are right about the deep mutual distrust between the UAW and the Japanese companies. I don't see Toyota plants unionizing anytime soon regardless of the problems you may have listed.

[Cal Carpenter]

15. But it's not the fault of the workers what the companies are making

This is about worker's rights - the product being manufactured is secondary to this bigger issue. The worker's are the ones being hurt here from every angle - the working middle class in Michigan has been destroyed by the irresponsibility of the auto companies.

By trying to boil it down to lifestyle choices (eg the cars people drive) we are missing the most important thing here.

Maybe if the worker's fight for and actually win better conditions - better pay, benefits, job security, retirement fund, and ultimately more ownership of and investment in the company, it would be a healthier company overall - and make products that are best for the long run rather than all-out profiteering. Because as it is the corporate owners are driving US industry down the tubes and they don't care because they've already got theirs. They have no idea what it's like for a working class Detroiter right now.

I think the focus here should be on the fact that the American Axle workers are standing strong in solidarity to challenge the corporation, and we should all be standing with them, as literally as possible.

Many of our problems, like the environmental disasters and wars we are facing all over the world, are a result of companies being driven by profiteering, rather than people. I think worker's rights is one of the few things that tie it all together.

This is probably the longest post I have ever made here. It's just that I've seen too many friends, neighbors, and family get ruined by the auto industry.

[DainBramaged]

17. It has nothing to do with SUVs and EVERYTHING to do with a living wage

being denied to the workers at American Axle.


You usually aren't so narrow minded.:spank:

[fujiyama]

23. This article isn't about fuel standards

or domestic automakers' incompetence in focusing much of the '90s in producing little but SUVs and pick-up trucks, which I agree are part of the reason they are stuck in the rut they're in now.

It is, OTOH, about normal everyday working class people losing their jobs - and that should be a concern for everyone. This is an entire region heavily dependent on the auto industry. From the OEMs (the big 3), down the chain to suppliers, MI has been hit really hard. Though OH and other states neighboring us have been hit too.

The key is what to do about it? I oppose bail outs for these companies (and banks and other corporations too), but as I see what's going on, it seems like unions are losing their power.

The one thing I hear less from Obama and Hillary than I did from Edwards is executive and CEO compensation. There is NO WAY IN HELL, anyone can justify paying the CEO/top executives hundreds and in some cases thousands of times more than the average employee. Few mention it, but Toyota and Honda execs do well, but don't earn nearly as much as Ford and GM CEO/execs. The lack of universal health care is also costing automakers billions.

This has to be addressed across the board - across all industries. It's time to start actually capping pay on the upper levels.

[SpiralHawk]

10. "The wheels are coming off the bus. Smirk." - Commander AWOL

"Good thing the Homeland has me as the Decider-in-Chief. Smirk. Too bad about America and you Americans. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[bronxiteforever]

14. kick this thread for visibility.-thanks Omaha!

[OhioChick]

20. K&R

:kick:

[fujiyama]

22. This region...and state in particular

have been a disaster. I am so hopeful I can get out of this industry and area soon...