May have worked out better if they hadn't built crap like Chevy Vegas, K-Cars, Ford Fairmonts, Chevy Citations, yada yada yada...the build quality was atrocious during the late 70s going into the 80s at the same time costs were going way up. The foreign manufactures just happened to offer what people wanted or they wouldn't have sold any.

 

Very well stated.

 

Volkswagen is also coming to Chattanooga Tn.

 

Not a chance, GM is not insolvent their assets are far greater then their liab. Their share price should be somewhere about what Toyotas is.

They guaranteed me they wouldn't file bankruptcy a couple weeks ago. So I bought 1,000 shares at about $4.00.

Stupid?

 

I know that a lot of people share that opinion. But that was 30 years ago, can you get past it?

 

I worked for a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company in the late 70s and early 80s and I had an executive lease car privilege at the time. I had a new Ford car every year for about seven years and none of them spent any time in the shop even though the general word was that American cars were crap. They were delivered and I would have them serviced at the company garage at the appropriate intervals. And it had nothing to do with the fact that it was an executive lease car. If the UAW workers had found out it was an "E" car they would have sabotaged it. I think a lot of the American public has developed a "Princess and the pea" syndrome. Remember the story about the pea under several mattresses and only the true princess could tell it was there because she was so sensitive? Since that time I've had several Japanese, German and even one Italian car, but, with the exception of the Italian car which was a certifiable hunk of garbage, none of them were markedly better than the Fords I had driven. Maybe the Acura Legend was a cut above, but that was about it.

 

100% union here. Wouldnt have it any other way.

 

I agree, the build quality and drivability has gone up considerably.
In the 70s & 80s seemed like every new car I had was at the dealer when Brand new for Leaking struts, bad liftgate shocks, one motor replacement at 2,200. miles, poor fitting carpet set, loose trailing arm bolts on New El Camino etc...now I just live with check engine lights

I know not all the cars were bad...I drove a lot of company vehicals that stood up well to commercial usage (chevy van) while the E stuff was finished after 2 or 3 years (VW Rabbit)

 

That remains to be seen. Last couple days has stupid written all over it. I've been a little itchy about getting into some GM or F at these levels. I just can't seem to quite reach that itch yet...

 

I really wish you anti-union folks would actually do a little research on unions and what they have achieved for the American worker in this country. Like it or not there is very little chance that YOU have not benefited from union initiatives. The real problem with unions are people like you that are completely ignorant of what unions are about and continue to spread half truths that they rarely have any first hand knowledge of. Have you ever picked up a book and read about the labor movement in this country? I doubt it. Have there been mistakes, and excesses. Yes certainly, just as there have been with all other forms of the American worker. Don't blame the unions for all the ills of this country. The union worker is not some super force that rules over all the land. Do the math, the union worker is in the minority, so just how is it that (by some of your accounts) WE are the problem alone. I AM A PROUD UNION WORKER! By the way I do make a rather decent living with great benefits, pension, health insurance plan (second to none), 5 weeks vacation, etc. You get the idea right! A good job. I work for a company with less than 12,000 employees and the company is still making money and the share holders are happy. So it seems that you can have a union and not ruin the company. Why not educate yourself on unions and the American Labor Movement or do not speak about what you obviously have no knowledge of. What have you done to help the American worker, and more importantly the American economy? Where did your clothes come from? How about those shoes. WHAT kind of cars do you drive. I hope that the widgit that you build is never outsourced to some third world worker making a fraction of what you do and cause you to face the possibility of losing your high paid non-union American job. We all need to look a little closer to home before we toss blame around. I am open minded enough to know that I am not always right about everything, but I am right that you anti-union people aren't either.

 

personally.........i don't like unions, and i don't like anyone who does! i work in the private sector. i own my own small business and i work hard to make ends meet. the very idea that one of my employees would demand more wages or benefits from me at the threat of going on strike is something that i cant relate to whatsoever. i pay what i can afford and if they cant survive on that, they are free to go elsewhere, PERIOD!

when these big companies get in a bind, and need to cut spending or labor, the unions throw a fit over losing .50 copay on their prescription drugs etc....... i wish someone would pay for my health insurance, vacations, sick leave, personal time! this is what's wrong with america today, a bunch of whiney babies unwilling to pitch in and work for an honest days pay and take pride in what they are producing without begruding every single benifit that they feel they are "entitled" to. start your own business and see how easy it is......then let your employess try to dictate to you what you are gonna pay them! good luck

 

Thats great! You don't like me. Ohhhh I'm crushed. You don't even know me but yet you don't like me because I have a different view point. Now that is intelligent. I like apples, do you not like me for that too. You are part of the problem and not part of the solution. You don't like what you don't understand. The point was that Unions have done far more good for ALL workers than any so called harm, and that we all share blame for the ills of this Great Country. Unions are not the evil force that many on this board try to make them out to be. Just for the record would you like a little cheese with that wine (or should I say WHINE) you are serving up. In addition did you know or forget that the the United States of America is a Union.

 

Oops, too late......

 

RAZMAN, thats a pretty stupid thing to say you dont like anybody that likes unions, ill bet you dont like anybody who voted for OBAMA either, do you. you sound pretty dumb making those statements. and if you wish someone would pay for all you said then maybe you should get a union job.

 

Boys, Boys, Boys. Calm down. There is enough blame for this mess to spread around.

I have never been a member of a union. I am a member of middle management in the auto industry. That being said the way things have been going in the last 10 years in this industry my biggest regret is not having a union to represent me.

While all was done to save costs in order to compete with the foreign manufacturers I have had my pension eliminated, my salary frozen, and my health care reduced. This is all hurting me financially but more importantly I feel betrayed. I worked in this industry at this job because of the health care, the pension, and as a result I was willing to give up some salary. I could have made more in other jobs but opted for these benefits in lieu of pay. Unions can help protect workers but when they get greedy they can kill an industry.

 

GM, Ford, and Chrysler spent 20 years building cars people did not want, and decided to concentrate on the trucks and SUV's instead. Now that they are building good cars no one wants to buy them because of the reputation (and the loan situation).

Unions, like it or not, have bankrupt the auto industry by leaving them constantly strapped for cash. Unions are bad for companies, and it is as simple as that. Why should someone sitting on an assembly line make $90,000 just because he has been there 20 years? How much more affordable would cars be if labor costs weren't so high?

Look at how many employees Wal-Mart has in the states and the strength of the company. There is no one getting laid off at Wal-Mart despite the ailing economy. Wal-Mart's working conditions are fine and people are paid accordingly for the work they are doing. Wal-Mart also has no unions.

Unions had their time, but they are not needed in the US anymore and are driving more jobs overseas.

 

I think I'll buy 10 million shares for that price. Gots to go up from there!!!

 

Like the Bob Dylan lyrics..." Don't criticize what you don't understand "
but when you hear of GM janitors making $60,000 when they retire, something is wrong with this country !

 

Not stupid at all IMO. Plenty of blame to go around from the top down in many industries, including the auto biz. I bought some GM stock as well, and will probably buy a bit more. GM will survive, their stock will recover, but they will be a very different company once all the dust settles on this stuff, which will take some time making GM stock a long term investment hold versus a quick profit.

 

There was an article in the paper this morning about the cost of union vs. non-union workers in the auto industry. On average it costs GM over $81 per hour for wages and benefits vs. about $48 at Toyota. This is about $1,000 per car. I'm sure this doesn't help GM be competitive.

There is a time and place for everything. Unions were needed 100 years ago when there were few labor laws and corporations could be as abusive as they wanted to be. Unions are now dinosaurs, and like dinosaurs, are part of the past. I'm afraid that this is especially true of the UAW. Their continuing demands for more and more when the companies are earning less and less will eventually kill the companies and end their members' ride on the gravy train.