It was about time this was going to happen
These jobs that get paid $80000 – $90000/year are no different than what people out there work for $19000 – $25000/year. (or $2000 – $2500 in other countries)
They always want more money in the contracts
Well, You can want, but you are out of luck.

These workers deserve to be out of work and go back to work for 9 bucks an hour.

Moral: Don’t be greedy.

+++ 1

And WTF do you want GM to do? Continue to be hamstrung by the unions? Are they the Red Cross?

Yup, pretty much sums it up for me. As for help from my tax dollars, couldn’t we just build these people a forest preserve? They could study the collected works of buzz hargrove and hike on trails. Judging by the bellies I see at that GM protest, they could use the exercise and fresh air.

What would have been the reaction if GM would have been completely upfront and said “We’re only looking for a 24 month contract as there is a 90% chance the pickup truck line is going to close…”

So fast forward a couple of weeks and the CAW is now sitting down with GM.First day the CAW is informed Windsor Transmision is history.OK so GM has made the decision and we move, on fair enough eh?Right so we agree to a wage freeze,40 hr cut in vacation,reduced our drug plan,and a pension freeze.In return we were told that GM agreed to give us a new product to run with the Camaros with the truck plant running for the life of the contract.

So we held our colective noses and ratified it
Believe me folks,nobody was happy eating concessions.The rank and file accepted the fact that,we had to give to keep the company alive.Wich is more than can be said for the top executives eh?

Now not 2 weeks later were told Truck plant is gone in Sept 09.
So now were pissed off and everybody wonders why?
Somewhere somebody lied to somebody.Us low lifes don’t know who to believe.All we know is we got f—ed.

I appreciate your perspective “Yes, it is expensive. It’s also high-quality.” however the Japanese (and now Korean) automakers have shown that the traditionally held Quality/Cost link is a tenuous one – at best.

A Yaris or Honda Fit would be prime examples.

Regarding Oshawa’s quality rating -it’s always good to be the best and I don’t want to marginalize this. Quality, however is embedded in the basic designed, as well as the quality levels of the suppliers; as much as the final assembly point.

Yes, it is expensive. It’s also high-quality. As much as it probably pains GM to admit this, building quality does not come cheap. The flipside, though, is that warranty repairs aren’t cheap either.

Ford made this miraculous discovery several months back when they noticed that, shockingly, that their quality initiatives were paying off at the back end.

If GM were serious about the same thing, they’d transplant what they’ve learned at Oshawa to their other plants. I don’t think they’ve done this uniformly and, with the cost pressure they’re now facing, I don’t think they’re going to try.

Just keep saying that, over and over and over….

“GM is so screwed. It is really sad.”
“Most expensive auto manufacturing site in North American….”

“…GM commits to building a sustainable product in Oshawa, then that’s fine…..”
“Most expensive auto manufacturing site in North American….”

“….General’s terminating Oshawa production– along with three other plants…”
“Most expensive auto manufacturing site in North American….”

Note to readers: “sustainable” means something that sells through think and thin. That is to say, not a sports coupe (Camaro), a two-ton crossover, a luxury sedan or a boutique hybrid. Yes, small cars aren’t sexy, and yes, as much as it makes for a great photo to have GM and CAW brass shaking hands in front of a Camaro, it doesn’t guarantee anything for workers at–and I need to hammer this home–GM’s highest-quality plant.

A small crossover or econocar would be a good start and, hey, both the Corolla, Civic and Matrix are already made in southern Ontario, so it’s not like it’s mission impossible.

But then, may it’ll just be a “loan” like the last cheque… eh?

(yes, that’s how we spell “check”)

Sorry, that should be “kind, eh?”