the unions are a big part of the issue... do you people realize that there are people on the assembly line that make over 75 dollars an hour because of the union. They should set a salary cap for jobs like that. I know this isn't all of the problem but damn 150k + to sit like a monkey on an assembly line. Between the 3 companies there was almost 2000 people making over 60 dollars an hour sitting on the assembly line.

so if you look at the numbers.... roughly 2000 people at $150,000.00 = 300,000,000.00 yes that 3 hundred million. And this does not include supervisors this is just assembly line monkeys that should not make more then 15 - 20 dollars an hour or so.

 

Let's get somethings straight here. Sales are down ACROSS the BOARDS, even Toyota is down. in 2008, there will be 12.5 million cars sold versus 17 million last year. Cars are still selling, just not as many. There isn't a problem with "one" maufacturer, they are all affected. Supply vs Demand...and we are in a recession.

I love these numbers...nobody ever knows who comes up with them, and can not usually validate them.

FACTS:GM only employs 266,000 employees.

Yes, alot of other companies are related and such, but let's see some real numbers. Whose to say some of these employees won't go work for Honda, who just opened a new plant with 1000 new employees?

GM has sold 806,000 vehicles in Q1; 799,000 in Q2; and 828,000 in Q3 of 2008. They are in line to sell 3.2 MILLION cars this year. If GM goes belly up...where do you think those 3.2 Million buyers are going to end up? Ford, Chrysler, Toyota? Don't you think that these manufacturers might have to increase production to meet new demands? I mean 20% market share files bancruptcy, and somebody else will pick it up.

Let's not forget, GM is going under due to a recession. They're supply already exceeds demands, and the suppliers are ALREADY adjusting.

I say file bancruptcy and screw the unions.

 

I didn't go out and do my own concensus at crunch numbers. I'm quoting what I heard on the news recently, that up to 3 million people would be affected by the loss of GM. If GM were to completely close it's doors. That includes employees of the company, dealerships, suppliers, truck drivers, parts makers, and prostitutes, etc.
Reportedly, roughly the population of Chicago.
Charles, I like you take on the situation best though. You are right, there is a lot of doomsday talk going on. Its possible that they'll be able to reorganize and restructure, cust costs, and be profitable again. These companies are the powerhouses that survived a world war and the great depression.
That said, if you let them file for bankruptcy, one has to ask....Will people buy a car from a bankrupt company?

 

Fukk the unions, and I think ford should stay, they have the best plan, i think, the other two, gotta go, but if GM goes, ford should buy chevy, can they? that be crazy, i can live in a world with out chevys

i can but still.

 

I know there is, I opened the last one, but theses topics are a little different.

 

well,i do feel sorry for the prostitutes...

 

+1

 

I was starting to come around a bit on the unions, thinking that while they are certainly part of the problem, you couldn't pin the whole thing on them. I'd also heard that they were ready to make concessions- about bloody time, with their employers nearly bankrupt. Then I heard a segment discussing the Big 3 this morning on NPR and I'm 100% back to "kill the unions". Their "concessions" were pathetic- basically they deign to agree to discuss their contracts with the companies- no guarantees of any concessions, just a meeting. They're going to phase out a program called the "Jobs Pool" which apparently pays workers who have been laid off for doing nothing. Give me a fucking break- are these guys even remotely connected with the real world? Their spokesman said that these concessions were not primarily intended to actually help the companies in this time of near collapse, but were simply intended as token gestures to get Congress to go ahead with the bailout so they can keep on sucking the Big 3 dry (my interpretation and not his actual words, obviously).

 

man the unions are worse then the CEO's...

 

Unions are good to a certain point. But they have overstepped their boundaries for a long time. Its one thing to get paid 50/hour or so, but full retirement and everything? Its just too much of a drain. Assembly Line Worker is not a job that deserves a full retirement.