Tuesday, February 12, 2008

GM losses and buyouts continue

After losing $722 million in the fourth quarter, General Motors announces buyouts for all 74,000 union workers.
“Despite progress and buoyant markets outside the U.S., falling volumes and competitive pressures in the U.S. will continue to pressure G.M. North America and hence overall G.M. operational results,” Brian A. Johnson, an analyst with Lehman Brothers, wrote in a note to clients Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal has details of the UAW-approved buyout offer:
This new buyout offer is different in that it is designed to open the door for a flood of new workers that GM has said it will hire following its recently inked contract with the UAW. Currently, workers at GM plants typically make $73 an hour, including wages and benefits, no matter what role they fill. The UAW is allowing GM to reclassify about 16,000 of these jobs, such as janitorial jobs, as "non-core" assignments with wages and benefits equaling $25.65 an hour.



3 comments:

  1. Gordon,

    I must say I stumbled across this blog somehow, and it's kept me completely unproductive throughout this entire work day. I've read each of your posts from "GM losses and buyouts continue" to the Onion article. You're a fantastic writer, and the content is extremely intriguing. I'm a metro Detroit expat (Southfield), but am very familiar with many of your topics. I've been out of the state for 2 years, but my thoughts regarding all MI issues still keep me a bit informed. Please keep up the excellent posts, and hopefully I can direct some traffic your way.

    Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mom, is that you? Does this mean you've forgiven me for that D- in choir at Powers?

    Just kidding. I don't know what to say, newer new yorker. Thanks for the kind words. I have to admit this is more fun than most of my other writing projects, even if it is decidedly less profitable. (As in zero profits.) I'm glad you like it. Feel free to pass along any news or memories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. As GM, the Flint Journal and other businesses continue to reduce the workforce and replace it with lower paid workers, just who do these businesses think will be able to buy their products?
    As people make less, they will be less able to purchase products and services. Duuuuh!
    But the new business model is cut, slash and burn.
    I'm an older man, retired, so it doesn't really hurt me, but I feel that we are not leaving the world a better place for our kids.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.