GM Closes Ohio Plant, Cuts 1,080 Workers

[Robbien]

Source: Time

(MORAINE, Ohio) — General Motors Corp.'s financial woes have GM workers around the country worrying about what life without GM might be like. The 1,080 hourly workers at the automaker's sport utility plant in this Dayton suburb are about to find out. For them, life without GM begins Tuesday.

That's when the automaker pulls the plug on the plant that over the past 27 years has spit out cars, trucks and SUVs, helped pay mortgages and college educations, and provided a security blanket in turbulent times.

. . .

Stress on the workers at the Moraine plant has been mounting since June, when GM announced it would close the plant because high gasoline prices were driving consumers away from the SUVs made there.

Other GM plants could soon be facing a similar fate.

In Janesville, Wis., GM will cease making SUVs on Tuesday, putting 1,200 workers out of work. The plant will stay open until June to produce trucks along with Isuzu, but only about 50 workers will remain employed for that.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1868100,00.html

[liberal N proud]

1. America shutting down.

1800 Auto workers + cafeteria and janitorial staff.
Then the ripple effect starts to hit the suppliers, local business. Then it moves to regional business on and on.

[antimatter98]

2. Meanwhile, GM China opens new plant, also in Brazil...

I've read/heard that what GM is doing is shutting down US manufacturing and
design and will become an importer of its vehicles from other countries into
the US for sale, since those vehicles get better mileage than what GM
makes here in the US. Also of course, GM would love to eliminate union labor.

I've heard Ford has similar plans---that its cars from Europe and Latin America
get better mileage than its US fleet.

Of course, Congress has not stipulated how GM must use the bailout billions, but
it seems they will use this money to shut down their US operations and set up
import channels for their overseas vehicles into the US.

The scam continues on a huge scale. Congress remains against American workers
and American citizens.

[pampango]

3. It's foolish to defend congress, but many here didn't want congress to waste time

imposing conditions of the auto industry loans, since no strings were attached on the bailout of the financial industry. One sentiment was that it was classist to impose conditions of the industry that employs many union workers, when that wasn't how the financial industry was treated.

It seems that Bush is imposing conditions on the auto industry loans on management compensation, debt restructuring and, of course, pressure on the UAW to renegotiate, but no conditions on where factories are located. It will be ironic if the progressive pressure to get the auto loans done quickly and as "strings-free" as possible, ends up enabling the companies to relocate auto jobs out of the country.

[LiberalFighter]

4. We need to be contacting our recently elected Representatives and Senators

to remove that restriction.

Let them know that the last contract imposed a 50% reduction in pay for newly hired workers. The negotiators did not want to include it in the contract but they knew that the Big 3 needed help after doing their research. Retirees have to pay more for their co-pay and have higher deductibles also.

[superconnected]

16. Some people never learn... No, the restrictions are NOT the problem.

If I were only so fricken innocent I suppose I would believe as you.

[Psephos]

9. GM's foreign operations make money, and subsidize its money-losing N. American ops

But that doesn't fit the Evil Corporation(TM) template, so it doesn't get much conversation around here.

[blue_onyx]

12. That's why we should change our trade policies

GM isn't building plants in other counties for fun. People say how the US automakers need to be competitive with foreign automakers and yet expect there to be no negative repercussions. Since we don't tax imports much, there is an incentive to build plants in foreign countries, where labor costs are lower, and then import the products to the US. From a business perspective, it makes sense why GM would build plants in other countries. Our lawmakers, however, should work to give companies incentives to makes things here. If the import tax was higher, it would cost more to import products and companies may decide to build plants here.

[superconnected]

23. Bingo!

[superconnected]

17. Exactly what I expected. Exactly what they've been doing since the 1970s.

Man people here are dumb to believe we should hand them funds and then with no restrictions. Fucking idiots.

[OhioChick]

5. Damn....

Ohio is already hurting so bad. :(

[tomm2thumbs]

6. i get auction and bankruptcy emails all the time from ohio areas

all plants and industrial auctions which is sad since this is the real thing that could save the economy. maybe the govt should step in and buy the industrial base up at auctions and reissue them to the workers as a group so they can own it and rebuild it as a group

[bluecollarcharlie]

7. A lot of Du'ers round here.....

........were frothing at the mouth about GM having too many SUVs and how they should close plants and if some workers should lose their jobs so what? They could be re-trained(Into what? Who knows, who cares?) and we should let GM fail and all of that yada yada nonsense and bullshit. Well, there's nearly 1300 people right there. Are you people happy now? You get some of the sacrificial lambs you want. And because a lot of you don't live in the midwest, you don't have to live next to them either. Pat yourself on the back people! The race to the bottom begins in earnest! It couldn't be done without you.
Really.

[sarcasmo]

11. Another 1400 closing here in Wyoming, Michigan next year. It won't be a Depression until

January 21st.

[superconnected]

18. GM fails and opens plants in other countries because they want to. Nothing new here, only the people

who didn't catch on before the bailout are new and severely unsavy. Same old news with GM.

[Terry_M]

21. Putting all their eggs in the SUV basket was a stupid move

and I don't think anyone wanted GM and the rest of them to just shut down factories making SUVs, we wanted them to switch their production lines to more fuel efficient eco-friendly vehicles.

[1776Forever]

8. We moved to Ohio from Florida to be near family - Ohio is in deep trouble & getting deeper

Our fantastic Gov. Strickland is out all ready saying there will be major cuts and some of his opponents are saying, "No that can't happen." Duh! What the H do they think can be done other then that?

On a personal note: I think people should get together and form co-ops like the hippies did back in the 60's and grow food and barter more for services. We are all going to have to become more patient. I used to be a type A person and I cannot be this type of person any more. I find myself doing more crafts and reading more books and research on the web. It is definitely a different kind of feeling then I have ever had. I live too far out to do much volunteering but when the weather breaks I plan on doing that also.

The best to you all :hug:

[flobee]

13. The part that REALLY sucks

is that for people already unemployed and looking desparately for work-like me-just got another 1300 people applying for the same job


christmas sucks this year

[sarcasmo]

10. I used to deliver to that plant back in the 90's when things were booming. Sad, sad, state of

Affairs our country is in. This Michigan Man weeps for you Ohio, you are in the same mess as us.

[Corey_Baker08]

14. Here In Ohio We Are Hurting...

And This Moraine plant is near me, i wonder how it will affect the local economy?

[SharonAnn]

20. It will affect the Kettering School District significantly. The Moraine plant

paid property taxes, and those taxes went to the Kettering School District (which Moraine is a part of). But interestingly, the city of Moraine didn't seem to have that many students enrolled in the Kettering school system since a large part of Moraine was heavy industry manufacturing companies.

[superconnected]

15. But but but they got the bail out... oh yeah, it's why I didn't believe

in giving them it.

[Telly Savalas]

22. Didn't the bailout come from the TARP funds which had already been committed

to being pissed away unconditionally with no oversight?

Given the fragile state of the economy and the large ripple effects the failure of the Big 3 would have, it's probably a good thing that GM is being put on life support until we have grown ups running things in Washington. It may be delaying the inevitable, but right now we need that delay to give the economy some breathing room.

[superconnected]

19. I just want to toast all the DU people who believe in a bail out with no restrictions.

I gotta hand it to you, even with Michael Moores movie Roger and Me, you are still truly daft and haven't caught on.

With the auto industry in Michigan and towns all over America having already lost thousands - okay HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of jobs with GM and the other auto makers because of plants closed and moved to other countries(during profitable times even) - first Mexico and then China, you idiots think you're some how special and all those hundreds of thousands of other jobs lost over the years mean nothing. You think GM would have planned to keep some of it's plants open here after what they've done on a massive scale already. You trust the automakers who have been well documented at selling us out.

Yes you, a toast. For the stupidity of believing we should give THEM of all people unconditional monies and trust them with no restrictions. Bet you believed the same for the credit industry and hold them as high as lets see... priests... not to steal from you. Sorry, you got it up the ass from people everyone else knew not to trust. But forget all that, a toast to your stupidity.

:toast:

What next an unconditional bailout for the IT industry - how about just alloting them more H1 and L1 visas. No better yet, why not just write a big check and send it to India. Of course if we put restrictions on it they may do smth terrible like export jobs to China. Oh wait they already did. Guess what the auto industry all ready did too..