GM thread #2014858
03-01-2006, 06:32 AM
#1
Thread Starter
GM thread #2014858
I am formally suspending my support of GM until they break the UAW. I will not purchase another vehicle from GM until they can get their shi* together and eliminate the excess.
From the Wall St. Journal:
GM Teaching Employees In Jobs Bank To Play Trivial Pursuit
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That headline is no joke.
There is an incredible PAGE ONE article in today's Wall Street Journal.
I can't imagine how embarrassed GM and the UAW are today.
Link: www.wsj.com
Just one quote (Note: Mr. Mellon is a GM employee assigned to the jobs bank):
"About 7,500 GM workers are now in the Jobs Bank, more than double the figure a year ago. The bank added 2,100 workers last month when the company closed a truck-assembly plant in Oklahoma City. Each person costs GM around $100,000 to $130,000 in wages and benefits, according to internal union and company figures, meaning GM's total cost this year is likely to be around $750 million to $900 million.
One way employees in the Jobs Bank can fulfill their requirements is to attend eight- or 12-week classes offered by GM. In these classes, Mr. Mellon has studied crossword puzzles, watched Civil War movies and learned about "manmade marvels like the Brooklyn Bridge," he says. One class taught him how to play Trivial Pursuit.
More recently, he attended an institute in Flint called the Royal Flush Academy. It is designed for those seeking work in casinos -- the Detroit area has several -- and teaches students to deal blackjack and poker. Mr. Mellon says he isn't interested in casino work and left the academy after they docked his pay because he was 10 minutes late coming back from lunch."
This PAGE ONE article continues at link. Subscription required.
Taking from this thread at gminsidenews: http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/showthr...?threadid=27718
From the Wall St. Journal:
GM Teaching Employees In Jobs Bank To Play Trivial Pursuit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That headline is no joke.
There is an incredible PAGE ONE article in today's Wall Street Journal.
I can't imagine how embarrassed GM and the UAW are today.
Link: www.wsj.com
Just one quote (Note: Mr. Mellon is a GM employee assigned to the jobs bank):
"About 7,500 GM workers are now in the Jobs Bank, more than double the figure a year ago. The bank added 2,100 workers last month when the company closed a truck-assembly plant in Oklahoma City. Each person costs GM around $100,000 to $130,000 in wages and benefits, according to internal union and company figures, meaning GM's total cost this year is likely to be around $750 million to $900 million.
One way employees in the Jobs Bank can fulfill their requirements is to attend eight- or 12-week classes offered by GM. In these classes, Mr. Mellon has studied crossword puzzles, watched Civil War movies and learned about "manmade marvels like the Brooklyn Bridge," he says. One class taught him how to play Trivial Pursuit.
More recently, he attended an institute in Flint called the Royal Flush Academy. It is designed for those seeking work in casinos -- the Detroit area has several -- and teaches students to deal blackjack and poker. Mr. Mellon says he isn't interested in casino work and left the academy after they docked his pay because he was 10 minutes late coming back from lunch."
This PAGE ONE article continues at link. Subscription required.
Taking from this thread at gminsidenews: http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/showthr...?threadid=27718
03-01-2006, 06:32 AM
#2
Thread Starter
Who has access to WSJ Online and can post the whole article?
03-01-2006, 07:02 AM
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Maybe GM ran it...
or at least helped. Perhaps Ford or Chrysler had a hand in it. Really, this is the sort of bad press that will make the public far more sympathetic with the automakers and less sympathetic with the UAW when they try to refuse concessions. I certainly expect GM to work hard to kill the job banks in the 2008 contracts. It will be hard for the Union workers to claim GM was being unfair to these well paid idle workers.
or at least helped. Perhaps Ford or Chrysler had a hand in it. Really, this is the sort of bad press that will make the public far more sympathetic with the automakers and less sympathetic with the UAW when they try to refuse concessions. I certainly expect GM to work hard to kill the job banks in the 2008 contracts. It will be hard for the Union workers to claim GM was being unfair to these well paid idle workers.
03-01-2006, 07:02 AM
#4
Community Organizer
You know what, I agree with you 100%. Its GM's own fault for not having the balls to stand up to the UAW. I wish Bush could do them like Reagan did the Air Traffic Controllers in the 80's and throw thier asses out on the street. It sucks that they lost thier jobs but its thier own greedy faults, thier excess drove the company to seek other ways to stay afloat and I wouldn't feel bad for a damn one.
03-01-2006, 07:05 AM
#5
Registered User
Various articles, but not the WSJ one sorry.
http://www.thevistaonline.com/vnews/displa...8/4404e95a04e21
http://www.register-mail.com/stories/02210...53GJ6.GID.shtml
(It mentions the UAW contract expiring in Sep 07?)
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index....4850.xml&coll=5
Union comment: "The company causes these Jobs Bank issues because of outsourcing and getting rid of work and putting them into the Jobs Bank. Then they blame the union and say the system is not functioning. We're in the business of producing. We're not in the business of getting rid of people."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...210396/1148/BIZ
In Oklahoma City, workers bristle at the criticism of the jobs bank levied by Wall Street and national news media such as Fortune magazine, which called the system "almost un-American" in its most recent issue.
"Nobody wants to sit around and do nothing and be unproductive," said Darrell Mason, who has worked at the plant for 27 years. "Obviously this (closing) was quite a shock to us. We're at a crossroads right now."
http://www.thevistaonline.com/vnews/displa...8/4404e95a04e21
http://www.register-mail.com/stories/02210...53GJ6.GID.shtml
(It mentions the UAW contract expiring in Sep 07?)
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index....4850.xml&coll=5
Union comment: "The company causes these Jobs Bank issues because of outsourcing and getting rid of work and putting them into the Jobs Bank. Then they blame the union and say the system is not functioning. We're in the business of producing. We're not in the business of getting rid of people."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...210396/1148/BIZ
In Oklahoma City, workers bristle at the criticism of the jobs bank levied by Wall Street and national news media such as Fortune magazine, which called the system "almost un-American" in its most recent issue.
"Nobody wants to sit around and do nothing and be unproductive," said Darrell Mason, who has worked at the plant for 27 years. "Obviously this (closing) was quite a shock to us. We're at a crossroads right now."
03-01-2006, 08:09 AM
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Far be it for them to offer classes on manufacturing, auto design, SOME sort of job education. I mean really, if you're going to the extent of training some one in a craft, why not something that is beneficial to your business?
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03-01-2006, 08:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Penforhire,Mar 1 2006, 11:19 AM
The really sad part is those Trivial Pursuit games probably last all day with no winners. I mean, you have to answer correctly to win...
