Another day, another GM plant closing
General Motors has announced that it will close its Grand Rapids metal and die plant by the end of 2009. The announcement comes one day after the General said it would close its Janesville, Wisconsin-based SUV assembly plant by the end of 2008, and one week after it announced the same production end date at its Moraine, OH plant. The closure of the Grand Rapids metal and die plant won't make the same waves as the two assembly plants, but the facility employs a substantial 1,340 hourly workers and another 180 salaried employees, which is more than Janesvile or Moraine. The employees are eligible for 48 weeks of supplemented unemployment that adds up to the majority of their base wage, followed by a trip to GM's job bank. Three plant closings in two weeks is a lot, but with Oshawa truck and Toluca still scheduled for closure, there are still more doors to shutter in the days ahead.[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MONTE 4:04PM (10/14/2008)
The boom days of being able to drain some equity in your home and go buy a new car are long gone. Now that people aren't able to get a "free" car they just flat out won't buy one. This is one of the markets that will take the biggest hit of all because if you have a car that runs and is reliable the desire to upgrade "just because" is greatly reduced. I look for all car companies both foreign and domestic to start scaling back to skeleton crews and the next several years be quite bland except for the high end where customers won't be as affected.
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Red 4:14PM (10/14/2008)
"The facility employs a substantial 1,340 hourly workers and another 180 salaried employees, which is more than Janesvile or Moraine."
The Morraine plant employed 2,400-2,500 employees. About half of them have already been laid off. The 1,100 employees that will lose their jobs on Dec. 23rd in Morraine are the remaining employees that hadn't already been laid off.
Second paragraph down:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24956243/
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Red 4:22PM (10/14/2008)
Sorry, Moraine, not Morraine.
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Harry 4:27PM (10/14/2008)
I feel very bad for the families affected by these closings. Seems American's are losing jobs and homes at an alarming rate. I wonder when we will wake up and smell the coffee and work toward becoming a energy independent country. What short attention spans we have. When gas is scarce we conserve and look to produce, buy and drive energy effecient cars. When the oil is flowing cheap we forget, we have been there b efore. I am reading a newly releases book by Jeff Wilson called the Manhattan Project of 2009. It should be a required read for all members of our government.
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Harry 4:28PM (10/14/2008)
Http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
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catgirlshyla 6:11PM (10/14/2008)
This is why Unions Suck.
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Stratojet 6:35PM (10/14/2008)
The UAW was given a total monopoly to organize the big three in the 1930's, a move that the Michigan's governor at the time, Thomas Murphy, helped as a mediator. So, Government is also responsible.
Then followed an incalculable amount of strikes, threats which lead to the enormous burden that the Big Three still have to support today.
Management is the main reason why this is going on. You just can't ignore the voice of the customers for 30 years and think that everything will be allright. Too many parties, too many drunk managers, too much politic.
What strikes me the most is what John Z. De Lorean said in his book, in his letter of resignation to the President: It is not normal for a subordinate to have to show the job to his boss. Incompetence of highly ranked VP's contibuted greatly to what is going on today.
The actual management, thanks God, is way more competent than the previous generations, Roger B. Smith coming to mind.
Some other actions, very sad ones, will happen in 2009, this is not the end of it. The UAW rank and files will have to give back some of the wealth they have stolen from the shareholders over the years. American Axle strike (still closely tied to GM) is the last straw. How immature and irresponsible from the UAW. Government will never ever help without a share of sacrifice. Get ready for another round, brothers and sisters.
KT 6:31PM (10/14/2008)
Three plants close and probably 5,000 people directly lose their jobs.
How many more small businesses and their employees will be adversely affected by these closures? How badly will it affect those town's/citie's tax base when these plants are closed?
It trickles all the way down to people who would normally send their kids to daycare won't be able to afford to anymore. So the daycare has to cut back maybe let some people go.
Those who wish for GM or any other mfg to go bankrupt need to see beyond their automobile bias. Look at the big picture and you'll see it's an ugly one without GM and the others.
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Red 7:34PM (10/14/2008)
The town of Moraine is in far worse shape than any of the other cities where GM plants are closing, particularly Janesville. There are 63,000 people in Janesville and the city is no longer dependent upon GM for its entire economic prosperity. Conversely, Moraine only has 6,700. When 2,500 people are employed in a town of 6,700 by a single facility and that facility closes, PLUS the already poor conditions they were already facing with foreclosures, banks, etc....you can see what kind of pain this will cause in two months.
WetheSheeple 7:08PM (10/14/2008)
The reason we are all working harder and harder but can't seem to get ahead is based entirely on our monetary/banking system. We are a nation of debtors because that is how our entire monetary system works...debt. The U.S. Gov't formed an UNCONSTITUTIONAL agreement with a PRIVATE BANKING CARTEL we call the Federal Reserve and gave the power to an elite few of private bankers to issue legal tender backed by the coercive power of gov't to require everyone to accept that bank money.
Most people spend the great bulk of their money on taxes, interest, and inflation. And all that money goes to these 2 groups that comprise the cartel and their partner, the Federal Gov't....it's not a coincidence.
A few good quotes from our founding fathers
"The government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency. Creating and issuing money is the supreme prerogative of government and its greatest creative opporunity.
Adopting these principles will save the taxpayers immense sums of interest and money will cease to be the master and become the servant of humanity"-Abraham Lincoln
"If the American people ever allow the banks to control the issuance of their currency......the banks and corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all property, until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."- Thomas Jefferson
Katherine Austin Fitts, former Asst. Secretary of Housing said that the decision was made. "Let's get all the debt up, let's move the jobs abroad and instead of re-engineering your skills...we're going to dumb down America"
This latest housing/credit crisis has been carefully planned so we become total serfs to the Masters(Bankers). So basically it doesn't matter if you vote Rep. or Dem. The gov't works for the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve works for it's private shareholders. They're the true masters
I suggest everyone who wants to see what is really happening to watch this video, America: Freedom to Facism
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173
Let's get back to Constitutional money and take back our Republic!!
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:12AM (10/15/2008)
Can we stick to cars please?
ihioho 10:00PM (10/14/2008)
How would the great savior Obama stop these job losses?
A massive government socialist buy-in? A bailout?
The answer is - there is nothing Obama can do. Sucks to hear, but if GM hadn't f-ed off for 30 years they wouldn't be closing anything. And if Americans hadn't f-ed GM by buying hyundais, kias, and whatever else - these AMERICANS might still have jobs.
What now? Work at walmart for $6.50 an hour, the only job creation this country has seen!
Obama is a fraud.
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Sharone 11:09PM (10/14/2008)
This is why all auto enthusiasts should vote for Obama. He will put together another multi-billion bailout package and protect the industry. The existing 25 billion energy package is insufficient and an insult to Detroit.
John McCain doesn't care for lower class people. Barack has roots from that section of scoiety and therefore he cares.
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:13AM (10/15/2008)
There are plenty of places to discuss politics. How about you go there and do so?
This crud is ruining a perfectly good auto site.
Brian W 8:28AM (10/15/2008)
Yeah, it's all the Unions fault. That's just a easy scape goat for people that don't want to look for the truth. America will never win without an even playing field.
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Swede 11:59AM (10/15/2008)
I dont get it. We have trade unions on this side of the atlantic and we can both build cars and get a profit from it.
And my original question that I came to the comments for: what did they build?
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Moraineworker 2:30PM (10/19/2008)
This ariticle was incorrect. The Moraine workers will get two years of sub and unemployment, but will not go into a jobs bank our Union IUE/CWA gave that language up in our closing agreement.
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