Buy a brick from a fallen Flint assembly plant
Our first thought was "Boy, retirement plans sure ain't what they used to be." Reality, of course, is more banal, it's just UAW Local 651 going all nostalgic while demolition of the Flint East plant continues. The plant's last occupant was Delphi, but the plant has a history nearly as long as the automotive industry itself. With that much provenance, Local 651 is most likely right in assuming that some former workers might want to have a brick from the plant to put on their mantle. Michiganders looking for a memento will need to sign up on next Tuesday so the union can get a bead on how many people are interested. We'd like to sign up for the return of industry and good blue collar jobs, nevermind the old bricks.
[Source: Detroit Free Press, Photo: Getty/Jim Pugliano]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Biff Baxter 10:06AM (6/20/2008)
The UAW should also be giving out coffin nails, because their strike in 1999 at this facility started the hammering:
http://money.cnn.com/1999/09/29/companies/uawpact/
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DesiAuto 10:15AM (6/20/2008)
I really don't understand certain people's facination with things old (cars, building, etc.)
Let the old go, create new.
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Eric 10:03PM (6/20/2008)
If you owned a vintage autobobile then maybe you would understand. New cars are made cheap. I don't if it is a Crapolla or Honda or Lexus. Take a ride in a vintage Ford at the Ford Museum and you will see what I mean.
Flashpoint 10:17AM (6/20/2008)
America is broken in so many ways. WE NEEDCHANGE.
If GM and Ford didn't have to compete with Japan then they'd be doing very well. The question isn't quality of the cars but balancing the cost of making better cars and paying healthcare costs.
Japan has National health care and Toyota isn't burdened with having to pay all types of fees for employees who get sick. GM, Ford and Chrysler are stuck doing that because America's healthcare system is about making a few guys filthy rich and denying as many claims as possible.
I don't care if I get low ranked, but that's the truth - the sooner America gets a comprehensive national healthcare that can't be STOLEN FROM by coorporate SCUM...the sooner America's automakers will take off and regain their competitive edge.
And China hasn't even entered the international auto market yet.
I lived in China before and had a minor injury which I got treated in Chang Hai Hospital (Shanghai) for pennies compared to what I woulda paid in America.
And I am just an American foreigner. They gave me equal treatment as a Chinese citizen.
How much did it cost any of you to get a fracture treated and cast in America?
I had my leg cast twice over a 3 month period and got all my medication for just $150. INCLUDING XRAYS.
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BlazerUnit 11:02AM (6/20/2008)
What planet are you from?
"People have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to the emergency room." -GWB
The Other Bob 11:14AM (6/20/2008)
It's a good point, "Flashpoint".
Not to mention that Japanese manufacturers can spread their R&D costs of smaller, less profitable cars over a larger market - the Japanese market, which has little foreign competition due to protectionism. Toyota and others wouldn't hardly exist if the U.S. had a protected market. Japanese law even prevents American manufacturers from buying more than a third of a Japanese brand (i.e. Mazda)
We need to demand access to the Japanese market, so that smaller cars, made by U.S. makers can be more profitable and have a larger market.
sean 12:43PM (6/20/2008)
The Other Bob
you have some great points.
but do you honestly believe U.S. auto maker will have their success in japan? (forget the interior quality, forget the reliability) where the gas price is 30% higher than here, streets are extremely narrow, parking will cost you as much as a car in few years and the tightest air regulation will MAKE you buy a new car every 5 years.
look at majority cars sold in japan, they are sub 2 L, some of which are even sub 1 L. those cars a small and very fuel efficient. in conclusion, they buy cars that American don't produce. and they are more aware NOT to buy a freaking SUV or TRUCK.
The Luigiian 2:40PM (6/20/2008)
"America is broken in so many ways. WE NEEDCHANGE."
...
GOBAMA!!!
Flashpoint 10:18AM (6/20/2008)
America is broken in so many ways. WE NEEDCHANGE.
If GM and Ford didn't have to compete with Japan then they'd be doing very well. The question isn't quality of the cars but balancing the cost of making better cars and paying healthcare costs.
Japan has National health care and Toyota isn't burdened with having to pay all types of fees for employees who get sick. GM, Ford and Chrysler are stuck doing that because America's healthcare system is about making a few guys filthy rich and denying as many claims as possible.
I don't care if I get low ranked, but that's the truth - the sooner America gets a comprehensive national healthcare that can't be STOLEN FROM by coorporate SCUM...the sooner America's automakers will take off and regain their competitive edge.
And China hasn't even entered the international auto market yet.
I lived in China before and had a minor injury which I got treated in Chang Hai Hospital (Shanghai) for pennies compared to what I woulda paid in America.
And I am just an American foreigner. They gave me equal treatment as a Chinese citizen.
How much did it cost any of you to get a fracture treated and cast in America?
I had my leg cast twice over a 3 month period and got all my medication for just $150. INCLUDING XRAYS.
Reply
China? 10:23AM (6/20/2008)
Good thing you weren't a woman and didn't want to have more than 1 child. I think you would see the 'benefit' of having state controlled healthcare and mandated family planning.
I think watching Sicko too many times has made you think America will benefit from nationalized health care. True, there are some things that need to be corrected, but nationalizing it isn't the way to go.
When you want to ship something fast and with a guarantee it will get there, you use UPS or Fedex. You don't go with USPS, because it is federally managed, inefficient, and God knows what kind of service you will get if something gets lost. I don't want the same kind of people who run USPS telling me why my surgery failed.
MGBYG 11:02AM (6/20/2008)
AutoBlog is not really a board to discuss heath care but "China?"s little smear against REAL healthcare is too much to resist.
Listen, dude, 35-40 cents on every health-care dollar goes to shareholders and admin expenses of the HUNDREDS of insurance companies. Your silly Reaganesque notion that the government is instantly wrong is an insult to thinking folks. Canadians spend LESS and have BETTER HEALTHCARE.
Profit and charging interest are actually SINS in a Biblical sense...you read your bible, right?...so why do you conservatives keep lying to yourself?????
MGBYG 11:03AM (6/20/2008)
AutoBlog is not really a board to discuss heath care but "China?"s little smear against REAL healthcare is too much to resist.
Listen, dude, 35-40 cents on every health-care dollar goes to shareholders and admin expenses of the HUNDREDS of insurance companies. Your silly Reaganesque notion that the government is instantly wrong is an insult to thinking folks. Canadians spend LESS and have BETTER HEALTHCARE.
Profit and charging interest are actually SINS in a Biblical sense...you read your bible, right?...so why do you conservatives keep lying to yourself?????
BlazerUnit 11:16AM (6/20/2008)
Before anyone gives my previous comment "High Ranks", I should clarify that I actually agree with him wholeheartedly. The single-payer health care proposals aren't perfect but they'd be much better than the 'every man for himself' system we have now.
And no, right wingers, it wouldn't start the slippery slope toward communism. Smart people aren't fooled by your 'socialist' barbs--they actually know these proposals involve individual doctor and hospital choice, the opportunity to opt out for private plans, and not a hint of any state takeover of hospitals.
Avinash machado 10:20AM (6/20/2008)
Nice to see the American auto industry diversifying. Even if it is just diversifying into brick sales.
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1337 11:49AM (6/20/2008)
I think there's more value in an old brick than there is in a new Aveo. Maybe I could use the brick to improve the Aveo's styling!
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Scott 11:19AM (10/14/2009)
I wish it was the Faience Tiles on the northwest side of the plant they were selling, those are very cool, and pretty rare. I believe those are slated to go to the Sloan Museum, so at least they're going to a good home.
Some pictures of the plant, including some shots of the tiles, are available here, for those interested:
http://urbanflint.com/forum/index.php/topic,296.0.html
I agree, however, that I would rather have the jobs inside the building than a brick in my hand. The Flint Journal today said that one in 13 jobs in Genesee County today are in manufacturing, less than the 1 in 10 nationwide - and down from 1 in 3 in 1990. Pretty sad statistics for a former manufacturing powerhouse and the birthplace of one of the largest manufacturers in the world.
Biff Baxter, the strike was in 1998, not 99, but a simple mistake based on an article written more than a year after the strike. But since the Metal Fab plant across town that went on strike first is alive and kicking, that argument doesn't hold much water anyways.
I might add that the complex is NOT closed or closing. The operations have shrunk considerably, however, and are now located in only two plants, and will be run by GM or a third party after this year and plant 7 was sold to GM Service Parts Operations to insource some packaging operations. The buildings facing the wrecking ball are the oldest portions of the complex.
Thanks for acknowledging the long history of the plant and linking to the Wiki article - I wrote most of it! I only wish I knew more about the early years. I do need to update it, however, with the demolition and sale of plant 7.
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