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USA plant closings begin

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by bwilson4web, Dec 18, 2008.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    The Associated Press: Chrysler, Ford idle factories, GM delays new plant

    Bob Wilson
     
  2. malorn

    malorn Senior Member

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    As I said the dominos have begun to fall, how and when they stop is anyones guess. Very scarry, I am not trying to be sarcastic but I would love to have keep track of how many PC'ers lose their job in the next 3-6 months. Hold on tight, I think any control the gov may have had is gone.
     
  3. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    From hybrid buyer anticipates
    we skipped the gas gouge of '08.
    With cash and credit rates secured
    we're seen as customers to be lured
    if nothing else to get in trade
    our hybrids bought and early made.

    Bob Wilson
     
  4. nugget

    nugget New Member

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    Here's a few changed lyrics in the Holiday spirit:

    Jolly Old St. Nick, as sung by Detroit execs.

    Gen-rous U.S. government,
    Bring your checkbook near
    Don’t you heed the nasty calls
    To let our cars disappear

    Christmas Eve is coming soon,
    Before the Bush-time passes
    We’d like to earn our bonus bucks
    By saving or sorry assets

    Chrysler wants Iacocca back
    Ford wants a Fusion blast,
    GM hopes its little Volt
    Will make the profits fast.

    Why did we kill the EV-1
    Why didn’t we R & D
    Maybe all us Detroit types
    Should get a plug-in Pri!

    -CH, Naramata, BC, Canada.
     
  5. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    misery loves company, eh?
     
  6. malorn

    malorn Senior Member

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    I am afraid there will be plenty of misery to go around. You are from the rust belt, how many jobs do you think will be lost in your area if Detroit goes down? What do you do?
     
  7. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    i'm a scientist. we're used to the ugly funding climate, thanks to 8 years of science budget neglect that has nearly halved effective funding. i am not worried about my own personal situation, so don't bother with scare tactics. we live on a single guaranteed income and i still manage to put my husband through college. (yes, that's right, he used to work at the dealership. we did suffer a job loss last year when the service economy first contracted.)

    where i come from isn't really considered the rust belt. where i live now is faring ok so far. and i don't think detroit will go down, i think if they do this "orderly bankruptcy" thing that is in the news and they do it wisely, they will at the very least survive the economic downturn. there will not be a gaping hole left where these companies once sat. losses occur when big companies contract, it happens, but it will not be the catastrophe you continually predict.
     
  8. NeoPrius

    NeoPrius Member

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    Seems painful, but it's a good idea. No use in building more vehicles you can't sell. Better to lose a couple of weeks pay than to lose your job. Those auto workers who lose just a couple of weeks pay should thank their employers for that opportunity.

    I wish, back in early 2001, I had been furloughed for a couple of weeks, a month, six months - rather than be laid off in a down market. It took me much longer than six months to find another job. There was no bailout considered for the technology sector.
     
  9. JSH

    JSH Senior Member

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    The UAW workers are being paid, don't know about the white color staff.
     
  10. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    I thought it was the other way around. White colors are being paid. Blue collars are not (unless the supplement they're getting is the equivalent of being paid).

    * * * * * * *

    In any event, I find the loss of manufacturing and blue collar jobs distressing.

    I used to be a steelworker in the Seventies. Got laid off in 1975, when the industrial belt began to rust.
     
  11. JSH

    JSH Senior Member

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    From the article:

    "Laid-off workers at Ford and Chrysler get vacation pay for the normal holiday shutdown, then will receive unemployment benefits and supplemental pay from the company that total about 85 percent of their normal pay."
     
  12. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    So, now that the Fed and Province have announced the 4.2 billion thing, wonder if those plant furloughs will still go ahead? Yes, I bet it will
     
  13. warrior

    warrior New Member

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    Not here; US Army retired. Never had to worry about job.!!:rockon:
     
  14. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i have had a dozen job changes with 3 of them simply going away. one either survives or not and not all will land on their feet. but that is life. there is no doubt, a significant number of auto workers who have done very little other than their current job and many out of frustration or fear of the unknown, will fail.

    that is bad, but continuing to prop up a failing business model is quite simply not my responsibility.