Jennifer Granholm: Big Three Woes Not Their Fault

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There is no way in heck that it is the unions fault for the mess that the big three find themselves in.Do you honestly think that huge concessions would have made it any different than it is today.The corporate elite would have just taken those savings and squandered them.To sit there and blame the lunchpail gang for the mess is not only ignorant but a cheap copout for the mess today.WAGES AND BENEFITS ARE ONLY 11% OF THE OPERATING COSTS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

10:07AM December 19, 2008

Find out how many man hours it takes to make a homda or toyota. I think you know where I'm going with this. I've worked in the Auto industry and the attitude of many workers would not be tolerated in a non-union environment. It's only one factor. This was a house of cards that was eventually blown down by the wind of economics.
I believe Darwins theory of evolution rings true with industry as well. Times will be tuff, yes. But this is necessary. We need proper work ethics, efficient design and management, and top quality vehicles. A bailout will not give us this.
If I can find the link showing Man-hours per vehicle, I'll post it.
In the end if you can sell me a QUALITY, Dependable, well engineered car for a competitive price,...I'll buy it. Until then, I will drive a BMW or a Honda. They are almost the sane price when you consider all the factors. (Not the High end models of coarse).
The Big 3 are not just to provide jobs, thy are to provide a product that's marketable. THEY FAILED!

Brent Durette 12:25AM December 16, 2008

O.K. That`s it I am mad! The "Big Three" are in Washington begging for MONEY. Our dear Governor decides to raise TAXES, yes I said RAISE TAXES! She is increasing property taxes in Macomb County on homes worth over one hundred thousand dollars. Can you believe this? The economy is in shambles, people are losing their jobs, our car companies are in BIG trouble, Michigan residents are struggling and SHE had the nerve to raise taxes? She has got to be kidding! Is that all this woman knows is to keep raising taxes? Doesn`t she know the Tech Center in Warren, is in Macomb County and probably alot of the employees there own homes in Macomb County. Get your head on straight lady, we are in a recession! I can`t wait for the election for Governor, THIS WOMAN HAS TO GO!

Fran, Screaming mad! of MI 9:25AM December 11, 2008

and by the way I know for a fact that GM spent millions on this hydrogen technology hysteria that has now been replaced by hybrid hysteria. Hysteria never did any good for the environment but surely is fueling Toyotas bottom line. If it wasn't for that damn prius ya'll have nothing to say. Prediction: yr 2020 great lakes water is undrinkable because of the high levels of heavy metals primarily due to Prius batteries sitting in michigan landfills. Just a thought. Here should be the one condition of the loan. NO LAYOFFS! thats it.

of 3:06PM December 03, 2008

Oh yeah in the late 90s gm was making RECORD profits quarter after quarter primarily because of those SUVs flying off the lot. Not an unreasonable time to upgrade the corporate headquarters. Notice how quiet Japan is in all of this? Why because they desparately need gms market share to offset other elements in their own poor decision making and quality control not to mention it is kinda hard right now to get a car loan for any type of car.

of 3:01PM December 03, 2008

Yeah unions are terrible. My grandfather told me how bad like when he left is anti-union shop to a union one in the 50s and doubled his pay to almost $6 hr as a highly skilled machine repairman. He even got health insurance from day one something that is virtually impossible for an aspiring autoworker today. Terrible because they are not doing enough for workers in the face of wall street deregulation and our eroding social safety net which after 30 years amounts to unemployment benefits that we will all soon see isn't funded well enough. Since banks won't loan money the govt has to this is simply another case but go ahead and destroy one of the last bastions of worker protections the UAW. I am no fan of many of the UAWs policies and decisions over the years. That does not make collective bargaining a bad thing. Were they simply counting on a govt loan if the Banks Failed Us. The banks failed you not the UAW. Let the big three fail see you in the new depression.

of 2:57PM December 03, 2008

The double standard that the top half of this country is blind to will destroy it. Why is it that when a gang of thieves 'organizes' into a corporation to exploit, stash, and not be held responsible for any and all actions in pursuit of a buck, we call it the ultimate expression of freedom and democracy – but when a group of exploited, dashed, and scapegoated workers organize for their rightful taste of the pie they planted, picked, prepared, and served, it's called "shumions" by a bunch of armchair CEOs and former Jeopardy! champions?
You want to deregulate? How 'bout we remove those confining rules, regulations and restrictions from the U.S. Labor Market? If you thought Sarbens-Oxly made it hard to breath, you should try on Taft-Hartley, Libertarian hypocrites.
Make your lame jokes and brownie points while you can. Each and every day, more and more good-hearted desk-dwellers are realizing – miracle of miracles – that they too are working class. Welcome to the labor market, brothers! Allow me to introduce Mr. Taft, Mr. Hartley:
http://lpa.igc.org/lpv26/lp05.htm

of MI 5:48PM December 01, 2008

"The unions have been asking the gov. to put a limit on the foreign cars coming in the USA"
That statement shows why unions are a problem.

Max of WI 11:02PM November 16, 2008

#1 to PS of IL,you said you did consulting work for the not so big 3,well maybe you were 1 of the weak links? Do you think? #2 I am not in favor of bailing out the uaw wihout them giving up a whole lot.My mother since past away was one of the first women to be eleced a uaw local president and I can assure you she would make ALL the effort to use common sense and re-negotiate all the "gravy'to safe jobs.$14 an hr is better than $0.#3How stupid are GM & Ford? In Seally,TX a British Company has just bought a truck building facility and landed a multi Billion $ contract to build military trucks for us the tax payers,you talk about the combined greed of both the uaw/gm-ford blinding theirselves while south of the mason/dixon things look pretty good.One last comment in 1977 I was lucky enough to get a summer job at chevy-truck in Flint,I will never forget being asked by a "lifer" where by loaf of bread was? I said what the hell do you mean,his reply was this is Generous-Motors and you need the bread to lap up the gravy,go figure?

Mike of TX 11:02AM November 15, 2008

A large percentage of the county has less than half the per hour benefit package the auto industry has. How does this group buy their products with such a disparity. The last 60 years of carnage left by the UAW on past and present car makers should make most observers cringe. ( even the UAW). No employer can afford the exravegant compensation provided the workers of the auto companies. The degree of difficulty that a assembly worker has is rewarded at probably 50% wages in most other industries. If the auto companies need help they better start with the unions taking a huge pay cut till there situation improves. If not the loan will never be paid back as the problem has not been corrected an the taxpayer continues to subsidize the auto workers. I have purchased many GM and Ford vehicles over the years. If I have to subsidize these car makers with no sacrifice of the UAW I will never buy another UAW car. I visited my sister in Florida three years ago and some of the retired GM UAW workers were laughing about the large Christmas bonuses they had recieved. Is it any wonder the companies net help. They were struggling then.

Floyd Scholten of SD 9:45PM November 14, 2008