GMs cuts have been announced

[markd79ta]

Ever try taking care of a family? Esp. on one income? Esp. when the cost of living is as high as it is out here? 6 figures makes it a lot easier to do.

If I am buying a car with my current budget, I am not going to pay extra for the higher wages...I can't...I am going to look for the best value. I think this is the point. The demand is set by the market...period. GM can build a few quality cars and sell them for more, or they can build a lot of junk cars and sell them for less. However, the volume junk car philosophy is failing right now, miserably. Either way workers need to accept the reality of the situation. The auto manufacturers moved to automation the last time the union would not bend, and now they will move to job cuts because the unions likely won't bend. The health care benefits at GM are completely unreasonable...that should be the first thing offered. Regardless of how we each look at it, the company will not survive with the status quo. Either the workers accept that the market has changed, or there will be a whole lot less of them beyond the 30,000 mentioned in the press release.

On another note. People need to set priorities and get the training/education they need to live the life style they want. I do not agree with artificially inflating a job so somebody can live a good life on that job. Artificially inflated jobs never last and create problems we are seeing now. We all have the opportunity of education. If somebody wants to move up, then they can get the education and put in the effort. When I was faced with being a single parent and a low income, I didn't about it or demand to be taken care of...I went back to school and earned my masters degree. Now, five years later, I make enough to live the way I want to live with plenty of promotions on the horizon.

[Dave M]

I'm a union member so it's hard for me to cristisize another union brother for making too much, but obviously GM's got problems. You have to look at the job performed and the risk level involved. What education or skill is involved in the job, and what danger to life or limb is involved? Auto workers are typically high-school grads, no higher education needed. Although there is a risk of injury inherent in any manufacturing situation, the plants these workers work in are basically safe and there's little chance of losing your life. A starting wage in the mid $20's with the excellent benefits these individuals make seems excessive. I've read/heard that once all benefits are included, Delphi workers make about $64/hr. There's no way a business can survive paying like that. A union's primary job is to ensure that jobs are kept and that conditions are safe. Whatever a union can get for its memebers above and beyond that is gravy. If the union has to take a pay cut to keep 30,000 jobs, then that might be what they have to do. But you also have to remember, big corporations are greedy corporations. There will always be a need for unions. GM could just say they need to cut 30,000 jobs to stay afloat, just to get those consessions from the union. I'm not saying that's what is happening in this case, but don't forget that unions exist for a reason. It's happened in the past.

My job at TMI is a very easy job, day to day. I sit around and wait for the **** to hit the fan, much like a firefighter. In our case we're not paid for what we do, we're paid for what we're willing to do. We're the lowest paid department on the island (including janitors) but we're the only ones expected to lay down our lives to defend it. Pay for us starts in the mid teens, with avergae but not great benefits. We went union not to get better pay but to stop management from jerking us around every day. Now we have a collective voice.

[casey02ws6]

I processed a loan for a borrower who worked at Visteon - a Ford supplier. He was an assembly line worker - had been for 12 years. He was making.....get this.....$12,000 per month. What kind of business model supports this kind of pay for that type of worker? I read somewhere what it costs GM to build a car vs Honda. Once you factor in the pension and benefits GM is like a boxer fighting the world champion wearing cement shoes and both hands tied behind their backs. Is it the Union's fault or GMs fault? I think it's both of their faults - they got caught believing that things would not change. They could do whatever they wanted and people would buy their products. GM is in trouble and this is terrible for the US economy.