GM closing Ontario, Detroit, and Ohio factories
01-31-19, 02:03 PM
#496
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Last edited by Toys4RJill; 01-31-19 at 02:08 PM.
01-31-19, 03:23 PM
#497
Lexus Fanatic
if it does/would ‘concern’ you that your iphone was made in a giant chinese sweatshop, but won’t influence your buying decision, then it really doesn’t matter, does it?
this is so wrong it has to be challenged. First of all, the thread topic, cars, are produced in massive numbers in the u.s., even by manufacturers not headquartered here. I wouldn’t be surprised for example if bmw makes the majority of all the vehicles it makes worldwide, in the u.s. bmw is certainly world class. Tesla is the world’s leading ev producer, and they’re made in california. There’s medical devices and equipment, world leading. Putting aside large hard goods though, the u.s. leads he world in the design, development and implementation of software, websites, movies, apps, etc. that is a vast industry worth more than the entire auto industry by far. There’s so many other things... vast world class wine industry, and foods...
It is not wrong when you look at it in terms of what we actually export....we generally lead the world (or close to it) in terms of exporting aircraft and agricultural products. We are clearly in first place when it comes to feeding the rest of the world, with the Ukraine probably second. Splitting it down into the sub-categories you speak of, though, yes, the situation is more complex and not that simple.
01-31-19, 06:38 PM
#499
Lexus Fanatic
Super Bowl ads, of course, cost millions, but, in this case, money WELL-spent.
Thanks for posting.
01-31-19, 06:52 PM
#502
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
I honestly do not think this would be her reaction. GM has the funds to really put the Unifor union to shame if they wanted to. They could legitimately admit that the union is the reason why they are leaving, but it has to do with the decline of sedans as well
01-31-19, 07:44 PM
#504
Lexus Champion
iPhones and cars is a false dichotomy. You don't keep an iPhone for 3, 5 or even 7 years and then pass it on to your kids. Your smartphone is meant to be kept for about 18 -24 months and then you're supposed to get the latest blingiest model. An iPhone costs what? $1000, if you're really into throwing money away. A car costs 35 times that.
To some people the second most important purchase in their lives is something that they think about. There is a reason why people insisted in the recent past on making sure their Japanese car was made in Japan, especially when it came to Lexus. And similarly that their pickup truck is made in America.
To some people the second most important purchase in their lives is something that they think about. There is a reason why people insisted in the recent past on making sure their Japanese car was made in Japan, especially when it came to Lexus. And similarly that their pickup truck is made in America.
01-31-19, 07:50 PM
#505
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
01-31-19, 08:40 PM
#506
Lexus Fanatic
(J/K). Still, their basic message would be the same no matter where it is run...a boycott of Mexican-produced GM products would not apply just to Canadians.
02-02-19, 08:23 AM
#507
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
https://www.cp24.com/world/gm-plant-...wide-1.4280116
TOLEDO, Ohio -- The sting from a major restructuring at General Motors and its planned closings of five North American factories in the coming months is putting thousands of jobs at auto parts suppliers at stake, as well.
While GM expects nearly all its U.S. blue-collar workers whose jobs are being eliminated to have an opportunity at relocating to factories that are adding jobs, that won't be the case for many in the supply chain who make parts, drive trucks, work in warehouses and keep GM's plants operating.
For most of them, there is no safety net.
"There's nowhere to transfer. They've got nowhere to go. They're just out of work," said Dave Green, a union leader near Youngstown where GM in early March plans to shut down its factory that makes the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.
GM's labour agreements guarantee its workers transfer rights and relocation money, but that's not true for the wide majority of suppliers, even where the workers are represented by unions.
"We've been lost in the shuffle," said Brian Shina, who lost his supplier plant job when GM cut a shift at its Lordstown factory in May, months before announcing plans to close it. "We don't have any leverage here."
The dominoes already are starting to fall. A plant that makes seats for the Cruze and another business that does logistics and warehousing work for GM in Ohio will close in March, too. Just three years ago, those two had a combined 800 workers.
Green has compiled a list of more than 50 other businesses whose work is tied to the Ohio assembly plant. But it's difficult to know how many could be forced to cut jobs because many do work for other auto plants and industries.
Despite varying estimates, some economists project that for every auto plant job that is lost, three or four additional positions are eliminated. Research shows that auto plants, and manufacturing in general, create more spinoff jobs than other industries.
"That's the bigger part of this," said Green, who plans on attending President Donald Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday at the invitation of Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, whose district includes the plant.
Trump, who has promised to revive manufacturing in the Midwest, has been highly critical of GM's announcement, threatening that his administration was looking at cutting GM subsidies, including for electric cars. It's an especially thorny issue for the president, who won over a surprising number of Democratic-leaning union workers during his first campaign.
There's still a chance some of the factories targeted by GM could be revived during upcoming contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union, which has promised to fight the closures. Those include assembly plants in Detroit and Oshawa, Ontario, and transmission plants in Warren, Michigan, and near Baltimore.
Suppliers closest to factories that end up shutting down tend to be hit hardest because they're usually more reliant on those plants than those farther removed with a broader customer base, said Albert J. Sumell, an economics professor at Youngstown State University.
Workers at a parts plant in Whitby, Ontario, walked off the job in January to protest GM's decision to shutter its Canadian plant while another nearby supplier plant announced it will be forced to close.
Many of the parts that flow into the transmission plant near Baltimore come from other states, including South Carolina and Tennessee, and some are delivered from Mexico and Canada, said Guy White, a UAW shop chairman in Maryland.
"There's all sorts of suppliers. It's huge," he said. "We get stuff from all over the world."
Other jobs that are directly tied to the plant are more likely to be in jeopardy, including those who supply its machines or sort parts, White said.
Those who study the auto supply industry say it's too early to know the full impact of GM's transformation away from cars to focus on trucks, SUVs, and electric and autonomous vehicles.
Some suppliers expect to withstand the potential losses from GM because they have made moves to diversify their customer base in the years since the Great Recession rocked the auto industry.
Jamestown Industries, a small operation that supplies front and rear bumper covers for the Cruze, hopes its efforts to secure new business will allow its Youngstown plant to keep going.
The idea is to add work in warehousing, logistics, and packaging outside of the automotive industry, said Lawrence Long, the company's vice-president of development.
But the plant is down from three shifts to one and now is poised to lose its biggest customer. Melissa Green, who has worked there 14 years, isn't optimistic and making plans to switch to a career in nursing.
She'll be able to go to school for free through a state program that assists laid-off workers but still will need another job once her unemployment benefits run out.
What also worries her is what will happen to the older workers who are just shy of retirement age.
"A lot of them don't know what they're going to do," she said. "Hopefully they can find something because they have to survive."
TOLEDO, Ohio -- The sting from a major restructuring at General Motors and its planned closings of five North American factories in the coming months is putting thousands of jobs at auto parts suppliers at stake, as well.
While GM expects nearly all its U.S. blue-collar workers whose jobs are being eliminated to have an opportunity at relocating to factories that are adding jobs, that won't be the case for many in the supply chain who make parts, drive trucks, work in warehouses and keep GM's plants operating.
For most of them, there is no safety net.
"There's nowhere to transfer. They've got nowhere to go. They're just out of work," said Dave Green, a union leader near Youngstown where GM in early March plans to shut down its factory that makes the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.
GM's labour agreements guarantee its workers transfer rights and relocation money, but that's not true for the wide majority of suppliers, even where the workers are represented by unions.
"We've been lost in the shuffle," said Brian Shina, who lost his supplier plant job when GM cut a shift at its Lordstown factory in May, months before announcing plans to close it. "We don't have any leverage here."
The dominoes already are starting to fall. A plant that makes seats for the Cruze and another business that does logistics and warehousing work for GM in Ohio will close in March, too. Just three years ago, those two had a combined 800 workers.
Green has compiled a list of more than 50 other businesses whose work is tied to the Ohio assembly plant. But it's difficult to know how many could be forced to cut jobs because many do work for other auto plants and industries.
Despite varying estimates, some economists project that for every auto plant job that is lost, three or four additional positions are eliminated. Research shows that auto plants, and manufacturing in general, create more spinoff jobs than other industries.
"That's the bigger part of this," said Green, who plans on attending President Donald Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday at the invitation of Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, whose district includes the plant.
Trump, who has promised to revive manufacturing in the Midwest, has been highly critical of GM's announcement, threatening that his administration was looking at cutting GM subsidies, including for electric cars. It's an especially thorny issue for the president, who won over a surprising number of Democratic-leaning union workers during his first campaign.
There's still a chance some of the factories targeted by GM could be revived during upcoming contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union, which has promised to fight the closures. Those include assembly plants in Detroit and Oshawa, Ontario, and transmission plants in Warren, Michigan, and near Baltimore.
Suppliers closest to factories that end up shutting down tend to be hit hardest because they're usually more reliant on those plants than those farther removed with a broader customer base, said Albert J. Sumell, an economics professor at Youngstown State University.
Workers at a parts plant in Whitby, Ontario, walked off the job in January to protest GM's decision to shutter its Canadian plant while another nearby supplier plant announced it will be forced to close.
Many of the parts that flow into the transmission plant near Baltimore come from other states, including South Carolina and Tennessee, and some are delivered from Mexico and Canada, said Guy White, a UAW shop chairman in Maryland.
"There's all sorts of suppliers. It's huge," he said. "We get stuff from all over the world."
Other jobs that are directly tied to the plant are more likely to be in jeopardy, including those who supply its machines or sort parts, White said.
Those who study the auto supply industry say it's too early to know the full impact of GM's transformation away from cars to focus on trucks, SUVs, and electric and autonomous vehicles.
Some suppliers expect to withstand the potential losses from GM because they have made moves to diversify their customer base in the years since the Great Recession rocked the auto industry.
Jamestown Industries, a small operation that supplies front and rear bumper covers for the Cruze, hopes its efforts to secure new business will allow its Youngstown plant to keep going.
The idea is to add work in warehousing, logistics, and packaging outside of the automotive industry, said Lawrence Long, the company's vice-president of development.
But the plant is down from three shifts to one and now is poised to lose its biggest customer. Melissa Green, who has worked there 14 years, isn't optimistic and making plans to switch to a career in nursing.
She'll be able to go to school for free through a state program that assists laid-off workers but still will need another job once her unemployment benefits run out.
What also worries her is what will happen to the older workers who are just shy of retirement age.
"A lot of them don't know what they're going to do," she said. "Hopefully they can find something because they have to survive."
02-02-19, 09:55 AM
#508
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...rs/2735500002/
02-02-19, 10:24 AM
#509
Lexus Fanatic
Cant say its gaining any traction until you see evidence of changes in GM's plans because of it.
Boycotts don't work, consumers aren't going to stop buying GM cars built in other countries, because they don't know which models are built where even if they did care.
Boycotts don't work, consumers aren't going to stop buying GM cars built in other countries, because they don't know which models are built where even if they did care.
02-02-19, 01:45 PM
#510
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Agreed boycotts do not work. GM has made it clear that they want to transition from the cars company they are currently into something different. UAW in the US has been quiet for the most part as most of their displaced workers will be moved, and GM must transfer these employees, if there is a position somewhere. So, where will GM be building their future products after they transition to the new GM? I am assuming there is a decision coming on where to be build new product going forward. This is all for negotiations.