Tag: GM

To G.M. Workers, U.A.W. Strike Is Chance for Overdue Reward

New York Times logoDETROIT — A decade ago, when General Motors was on the brink of collapse and was ushered into bankruptcy by the federal government, the company’s unionized workers bore a significant portion of the pain to bring the automaker back to financial health.

The United Auto Workers agreed to allow General Motors to hire substantial numbers of new workers at roughly half the hourly wage of those already on the payroll and with reduced retirement benefits. In the following years, G.M. was also able to bring in temporary workers with even slimmer wage-and-benefit packages and little job security.

The bitter medicine helped reinvigorate the automaker, and for the last several years it has been reaping record profits. Along the way, it has pared its United States payrolls, closed several plants and moved more work to Mexico.

View the complete September 16 article by Neal E. Boudette on The New York Times website here.

Trump Lies To Workers To Distract From His Broken Promises

Trump continues to lie to cover up for his broken promises to autoworkers. Meanwhile, General Motors workers are devastated Trump failed to protect their jobs.

LIE: Trump claimed the auto industry was booming even though job growth slowed under Trump.

Associated Press: “Automakers have been steadily hiring since 2010 when Barack Obama was president. But the pace of job gains has slowed considerably since Trump took office, according to the Labor Department.”

LIE: Trump falsely claimed that “auto companies are pouring into the U.S.”

Associated Press: “Crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. is just starting to restructure its white-collar workforce, and thousands are expected to be let go by the middle of next year.”

LIE: Trump repeated his false claim that “big steel is opening and renovating plants all over the country.”

ABC News:  “Trump Downplays GM Plant Closings, Repeats False Claim About Steel Plants”

CBS News: “As of October, there were roughly 382,000 U.S. jobs in the manufacturing of primary metals such as steel, down from 622,000 jobs in 2000. Construction spending on factories has yet to significantly take off after having fallen between 2016 and much of 2018.”

Continue reading “Trump Lies To Workers To Distract From His Broken Promises”

GM layoffs and plant shutdowns suggest U.S. economy may be starting to slow — and dent Trump’s claim of an industrial renaissance

Tara Gress hopes to transfer to another plant after GM’s Nov. 26 announcement of plans to close five plants and lay off 15,000 workers. (The Washington Post)

General Motors said Monday it will close five factories and lay off nearly 15,000 workers in a move that shows the economy may be starting to slow and dents President Trump’s claim to be leading a renaissance for industrial America.

The automaker said it would save $6 billion annually by thinning its salaried management ranks, dropping thousands of American and Canadian factory workers, and emphasizing the production of larger sport-utility vehicles rather than sedans.

GM’s announcement sounded an incongruous note amid otherwise plentiful signs of U.S. economic health. The last six months have produced the economy’s best back-to-back quarters in four years. The unemployment rate is near a half-century low. And corporate profits are exceeding expectations.

View the complete November 26 article by David J. Lynch and Taylor Telford on The Washington Post website here.

GM WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘I can’t believe our president would allow this to happen’

Trump’s broken promises have devastated autoworkers and their communities in the wake of the latest announcement of layoffs and plant closures from General Motors. As one autoworker said, “I can’t believe our president would allow this to happen.”

Here are real stories of autoworkers and communities hurt by Trump’s broken promises:

“You are going right into Christmas, you are looking for celebration, and that’s not there now. So what do you do? Do you still continue to buy gifts?” – UAW member

“I can’t believe our president would allow this to happen.” – GM Lordstown worker

“This is devastating…Without GM, this area would be a ghost town.” – Previously laid off GM worker

Continue reading “GM WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘I can’t believe our president would allow this to happen’”

GM to lay off 15 percent of salaried workers, halt production at five plants in U.S. and Canada

GM announced Nov. 26 that it plans to lay off 15 percent of salaried workers. This isn’t the first time the company has faced trouble. (Elyse Samuels /The Washington Post)

Amid global restructuring, General Motors announced Monday it would reduce its North American production and salaried and executive workforce.

The Detroit-based automaker said it would not be allocating any production to Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio and Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan after December 2019. It will also stop allocating production at propulsion plants in White Marsh, Md., and Warren, Mich., after December 2019. The company will also be discontinuing production of low-selling models made at those plants throughout 2019, including the Chevrolet Impala, Cruze and Volt, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse.

These changes are part of GM’s efforts to focus its resources on self-driving and electric vehicles, as well as more efficient trucks, crossovers and SUVs, the company said in a statement.

View the complete November 26 article by Taylor Telford on The Washington Post website here.