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Posted by Chewie on Friday, August 07, 2009 at 00:35:49 :
In Reply to: Re: Cash for Clunkers - most clunked posted by Chuck on Thursday, August 06, 2009 at 14:41:24 :
The BIG THREE are idiots for allowing the unions to destroy them from within. WHY CAN'T THEY FIGURE IT OUT?
Unions, again? Sigh. The tail don't wag the dog, Bub.
Kind of like the old saying:
I'm not the engineer,
I don't ring the bell,
But when it jumps the track,
See who catches it...
GM's business practices were it's own downfall, and unfortunately it's taking (American) union jobs with it.
From 95 to 2000, GM's top five took home almost $150,000,000. I couldn't find if that included the (now worthless) stock options. Union wage averages $58K a year, more with OT.
GM continually cut their suppliers margins to the point that the suppliers had to cheapen everything just to make a profit, which created a downward spiral. (How about that cheap plastic interior.) A race to the bottom, if you will.
We don't even want to get into the overstocked, underused engineering departments that are filled with more red tape than the IRS.
And there is always the 'get it to the market quick' without taking the time to work out the bugs in R&D. Brilliant management move. Ever notice the number of factory recalls?
No, it weren't the unions that caused this mess. Hell, the reason people quit buying cars in the first place was the fear of losing their houses when interest rates went up.
The market correction left GM holding a bag of inferior product with a shrinking consumer base to sell it to.
Dodge content? They are guilty, too. Death wobble? Steering? OD nut on the five speeds?
There are more reasons than what we can list here, but to put it all on the union's shoulder isn't right.
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