GM has been in a downward spiral for a long time, it's just accelerating now.
GM Workers Fear "Downward Spiral"
GM worker fears "downward spiral"
Tue Apr 29, 2008
By Amy England
http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/durham/article/97920
GM announced Monday that between 900 and 1,000 jobs will be eliminated in Oshawa leaving workers, still reeling from the loss of a shift and 1,000 jobs in January, shocked.
Falling demand for GM's full-size pickup trucks was blamed.
"I was in shock when I first heard but then I just look at the way gas prices are going up and it doesn't surprise me," said south Oshawa resident James Byrom Monday night.
An employee of GM for over 24 years, Mr. Byrom is currently on a temporary layoff from the car plant until the beginning of August.
Brian Lindensmith said he wasn't surprised. Mr. Lindensmith has been with GM for 26 years.
"Everyone that has worked for GM has been laid off at one time or another," he said. "Sales are down and this is what happens."
Larry Hardy, a GM worker who car pools with six men from St. Catharines, said he's concerned about the future outcome. Mr. Hardy said Monday night that he's seen this all before when he had to relocate to Oshawa from the St. Catharines plant after it closed 6 years ago.
Mr. Hardy, 56, commutes four hours every day to work in Oshawa. He was laid off for two years beginning in 2000 and has participated in retraining but was not successful finding another job outside of GM.
"A year ago the trunk plant was working three shifts," said Mr. Hardy. " And now this… most of us have been with GM for over 25 years and it is hard for us to find new work of any kind."
"It seems now it is a downward spiral, we always are asking who is to blame," said Mr. Hardy Monday night. "Are we making the mistakes? Is the union making the mistakes or is GM making the mistake? I wish we knew."
The truck plant had been running flat out since 1993 when a three-shift schedule started. Annual production regularly surpassed 300,000 trucks. It also won several awards for top productivity among truck plants in North America.
Oshawa Mayor John Gray hopes the news won't be as dark as it seems. "One of our saving graces is that it doesn't happen 'till September," he said, stressing that the job cuts are the result of economic conditions in the U.S. "That gives us some time and if the market changes, we may not have to cut that many."
Also See: $10 Gasoline Predicted in as Little as Three Years
Tue Apr 29, 2008
By Amy England
http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/durham/article/97920
GM announced Monday that between 900 and 1,000 jobs will be eliminated in Oshawa leaving workers, still reeling from the loss of a shift and 1,000 jobs in January, shocked.
Falling demand for GM's full-size pickup trucks was blamed.
"I was in shock when I first heard but then I just look at the way gas prices are going up and it doesn't surprise me," said south Oshawa resident James Byrom Monday night.
An employee of GM for over 24 years, Mr. Byrom is currently on a temporary layoff from the car plant until the beginning of August.
Brian Lindensmith said he wasn't surprised. Mr. Lindensmith has been with GM for 26 years.
"Everyone that has worked for GM has been laid off at one time or another," he said. "Sales are down and this is what happens."
Larry Hardy, a GM worker who car pools with six men from St. Catharines, said he's concerned about the future outcome. Mr. Hardy said Monday night that he's seen this all before when he had to relocate to Oshawa from the St. Catharines plant after it closed 6 years ago.
Mr. Hardy, 56, commutes four hours every day to work in Oshawa. He was laid off for two years beginning in 2000 and has participated in retraining but was not successful finding another job outside of GM.
"A year ago the trunk plant was working three shifts," said Mr. Hardy. " And now this… most of us have been with GM for over 25 years and it is hard for us to find new work of any kind."
"It seems now it is a downward spiral, we always are asking who is to blame," said Mr. Hardy Monday night. "Are we making the mistakes? Is the union making the mistakes or is GM making the mistake? I wish we knew."
The truck plant had been running flat out since 1993 when a three-shift schedule started. Annual production regularly surpassed 300,000 trucks. It also won several awards for top productivity among truck plants in North America.
Oshawa Mayor John Gray hopes the news won't be as dark as it seems. "One of our saving graces is that it doesn't happen 'till September," he said, stressing that the job cuts are the result of economic conditions in the U.S. "That gives us some time and if the market changes, we may not have to cut that many."
Also See: $10 Gasoline Predicted in as Little as Three Years
21 - 34 of 34 Posts
Exactly! GM in NO WAY could possibly keep 50% market share in this highly populated market. Sure, they did make junk in the 80's but they would of still lost market share if they didn't make shady products in the 80's. At that time, America was becoming an import hungry nation for electronics, vehicles, clothing, etc. With companies like Coke for example, making New Coke in the 80's SHOULD of destroyed Coke's market share, but what choice did people have besides Coke & Pepsi. With GM, the people had many choices.I'm missing something...who are Microsoft's 30 competitors ? I'm seeing Apple and maybe Red Hat. Who are Intel's competitors ? AMD ? Coke - Pepsi ?
I'm not seeing that any of the above companies have had to compete with well funded competition from foreign companies that are supported behind the scenes by their governments.
He’s b****ing as always, I didn’t even have to read what he said to know that!I'm not sure I follow what you're getting at above. But, all things being equal, I would have expected GM market share to decline over the last 20 years - numerous new players have entered the US auto market in the last two decades. The pie is only so big. I think it would be unreasonable to expect GM to hold on to 50% of the market now that we've gone from three players (GM, Ford and Chrysler) to like 30.
As far as the rest of your statement, I'm not sure I'm following you...
While GM's managment are by no means exempt from responsiblity you might want to mention Toyota enjoys the advantage of using non-union labor, still builds products in Japan where the government subsidies them and manipulates the yen to make them more profitable. Our government does nothing to protect our industries. It has hardly been an even playing field.Psst, windvale, don't tell that to Microsoft, Intel, Coca-Cola, and Wal-Mart. Despite new competitors, they seem to do well holding onto their market share... and even growing in some cases. To be clear, GM did not lose market share because it was building strong product and newer companies came in and magically took share. They lost share because they were building garbage. If they were pleasing their consumers, consumers would not have had a reason to flee the company. Saying that GM share fell because the market was getting crowded is a cop-out; they built crap, and their share fell. They're building better product now, and their retail share is holding. See how that works?
Toyota is actually one of the older competitors in the US market now; it's been around for 50 years in the US. Despite new entries like Hyundai and Kia (and GM's own Saturn!) coming in after Toyota did and offering products in the same exact market as Toyota fields its products, Toyota really hasn't retreated. It may have had a few bad months recently, but if you follow the growth curve for Toyota over the past several decades, both before and after Hyundai's and Kia's entries into the US market, you will nicely see that these two companies had very little effect on Toyota sales. Funny, Saturn hasn't really grown over the past decade or so, either.
I can't argue that Toyota has not been a well run company but its a bit its silly to think "they're just doing it better." Besides they build appliances that have sucked the fun out of motoring forever. People by Toyotas because they care about reliability and fuel efficiency. YAWN. Anyway, Screw Toyota. They are completely full of [email protected]#p. They build the Prius and pretend to care about the enviornment and then try shoving Tundras down our throats. You want to talk about a good Japanese company at least talk about Honda.
i completely agree with that however what has been hurting gm the most is the union, and the amount of pension that is given to the retired employees, gm has been lossing alot of money because of that actually.Come on. If people are not buying pick-up trucks, GM is not going to build them. If GM is not building them, it is going to lay off employees. Period. There is nothing workers, union leadership or management can do about it.
If gasoline cost $2.00 a gallon, there would be demand for trucks, and GM would be hiring people, and we all would be waxing about how the UAW and GM leadership were the greatest.
if it's true that ignorance is bliss, then the vast majority of you reading this, along with the American public, believe in a concept, long since dead, that no longer exists. GM is run by greed, beyond belief. wake up America (what's left of the original concept) and realize that you are but fools beholden to your own masters.
I think the surprise stems from the fact that GM accepted $500 million from the governments of Ontario and Canada three years ago, and in the last 4 months GM has announced more than 2000 layoffs in the province.$500 million pays about 1800 workers for three years, coincidence? The government money runs out, and so do the jobs.
Funny... the unions were not hurting GM in the 1950s. Then again, GM was not competing against Japanese cars made from Chinese steel, and the unions were not competing against Mexican labor. But I am sure that is all a coincidence. Just cut the wages of American workers, and everything will be fine.i completely agree with that however what has been hurting gm the most is the union, and the amount of pension that is given to the retired employees, gm has been lossing alot of money because of that actually.
and the band plays on...I think the surprise stems from the fact that GM accepted $500 million from the governments of Ontario and Canada three years ago, and in the last 4 months GM has announced more than 2000 layoffs in the province.$500 million pays about 1800 workers for three years, coincidence? The government money runs out, and so do the jobs.
Hi Mr. Buick - We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this: the armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return.
Blaming the government and whomever else they can is pointless. Trucks aren't selling because of high gas prices and the economic downturn. GM has done all it can with a top in class model. Pointing fingers is not going to change the facts.
If gas prices stay high you may see a permanently lower level of demand for trucks. GM can help with affordable hybrid trucks, more V6 models and fine tuning to keep best mileage status.
If gas prices stay high you may see a permanently lower level of demand for trucks. GM can help with affordable hybrid trucks, more V6 models and fine tuning to keep best mileage status.
What that really means is "....was not successful in finding another job that paid $31/hr CAD with top-line benefits for doing unskilled labor with no education..."He was laid off for two years beginning in 2000 and has participated in retraining but was not successful finding another job outside of GM.
Imagine that!
Speaking of them, 25 years ago the Accord owned its market segment... so the Accord must suck because now it doesn't.You want to talk about a good Japanese company at least talk about Honda.
When many new competitors enter the fray, markets become fragmented. Look at Europe for an example.
I always find it strange, too, when people assume that once they've had a good paying job, that there's an invisible floor that follows them up to that pay grade.What that really means is "....was not successful in finding another job that paid $31/hr CAD with top-line benefits for doing unskilled labor with no education..."
Imagine that!
In other words, a person would rather sit at home and get payments from someone than get out and do something too "below them" like work at the local McDonalds or Gas Station.
If I make the choice to move somewhere else (I'm considering this), I am fully prepared to take a lesser paying job for a while, just to have some income. If I live in a big home and lose my cushy job? Then I'll sell it, and move into an apartment. Sell the Bonneville, maybe even the Safari and live tight for a while.
Last thing I'm going to do is lie around the house watching Oprah, feeling sorry for myself.
21 - 34 of 34 Posts
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