Inside GM: "Clockwork Orange"

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

For years, I’ve been trying to convince one of our GM moles to provide some anonymous insight into the boiler room of the Titanic. This is my most recent reply, reprinted with permission. “Its not that I am no longer interested in at least giving it a whirl– Robert I gotta be honest with you, the position I hold within the Corporation as well as the UAW would almost spell doom for me personally if I would ever post under my actual name… Given all that’s going on right now, its not uncommon for me to take work home and plug away a 18 hr. day. Some on the site that I believe work for GM are refering to high stress/bunker like mentality and I can attest to this. Watching grown men cry that have always behaved somewhat professinally is discomforting at best. I personally hope this is not the end as my march toward insolvency would only be preceded by GM itself. I’m not wealthy nor sheltered by past savings or 401k. And I sure as hell would have a hard time explaining that I’ve spent the last 5 years as a XXXX for the UAW. Gotta think that my choice in this matter would sink my resume quicker than a manhole cover in water… My personal daily feelings are as follows when at work: one part fucked-up chapter of McBeth read in pig-latin; one part daily interaction with people that look and act the part of droogs in Clockwork Orange. And all the while the Doors “The End” playing in the background.”

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Stu Sidoti Stu Sidoti on Dec 05, 2008

    In general, I concur with jgh, anoldbikeguy and IOthworldaliving....In regards to the Tech Center staff, who I interface with several times a week, the changes in management, structure and decision-making swiftness has drastically improved over the last 3-4 years. It's hard to put into words, but current anxiety and jitters aside, there is a palatable, almost youthful can-do sense about the Tech Center today.

  • Menno Menno on Dec 05, 2008

    I've read what it was like "in the bunker" at Packard during the last days of their Detroit operations in the summer of 1956, before I was born. This sounds much the same, only bigger. I've also read what it was like for Borgward in 1960 (Germany), 4th largest auto concern in 1958-1959, to have the rug yanked from under them by the Stadt of Bremen. Borgward had routinely obtained "bridge loans" from the state and were refused. When it was realized that the company would be forced into bankruptcy by the state, a visitor from Studebaker-Packard Corporation was there and wrote about what he saw; grown men crying. Again, this sounds much the same, only bigger. Interestingly, Borgward was not in fact found to be insolvent when all was done, but the company was wound up anyway, and Herr Borgward died, presumably from a broken heart. It was said that Daimler-Benz had "friends" in governmental high places who saw to it that Borgward's new big "Grosser Limousine" (competitor to the finback Mercedes) would not trouble them, and so it was. Like a Phoenix, the big Borgward returned to life in Mexico in 1968, and was built until about 1971; and once again, like a Phoenix, the Borgward "six" came back to life and was used by AMC in Mexico for a short while in the 1980's.

  • Mikey Mikey on Dec 05, 2008

    Well I got 10 maybe 12 days to go.In Oshawa we just lost 3rd shift for the Impala,another 700 jobs!The truck plant is gone in May and the flex/Camaro plant will start running soon?Other than the Camaro NO more product till 2011? Motorcity of Canada in a word is "fucked"

  • Landcrusher Landcrusher on Dec 05, 2008

    Menno, Do you think Borgward and the employees died believing in the benefits of socialism?

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