Ford's announcement of up to 30,000 job cuts in North America, and up to
14 plant closures, is a shocking, painful blow that will shake the foundations
of the whole North American auto industry.

In Canada, Ford has formally announced the closure of its Windsor
castings plant, and other job reductions in Windsor that were anticipated in
the 2005 collective agreement negotiated last September between Ford and the
CAW. As a result of transitional measures and voluntary severance benefits
contained in that contract, we anticipate that the approximately 1100 jobs
which could be lost in Windsor as a result of these measures can be offset
through attrition and relocation within the time frame of the current
collective agreement (which expires in September 2008). Ford remains committed
to a new engine project for Windsor.
More surprising was Ford's announcement of the elimination of one shift
of production at St. Thomas in 2007, at a cost of some 1200 jobs. This is a
very negative and surprising development. It is a direct result of the decline
in Ford's share of the North American new vehicle market, and the aging nature
of the product produced at St. Thomas. The only positive news is that Ford
remains committed to the $200 million investment in updating the Crown
Victoria and Grand Marquis in St. Thomas.




UAW rips Ford's restructuring plans
DETROIT, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The head of the United Auto Workers blasted Ford Motor Co.'s plans Monday to close 14 factories and lay off up to 30,000 workers.

Ron Gettelfinger called the plan "extremely disappointing and devastating news for the many thousands of hard-working men and women who have devoted their working lives to Ford."

He vowed to enforce all contractually binding provisions that offer protection and benefits to affected UAW workers and retirees.

"The announcement has further left a cloud hanging over the entire workforce because of pending future announcements of additional facilities to be closed at some point in the future," Gettelfinger said.

"Unfortunately, analyst and media speculation during the last month has made these events even more wrenching for Ford workers, their families and communities," he said.

"The announced plant closings and future announcements are the subject of ongoing discussions with Ford. Certainly, today's announcement will only make the 2007 negotiations all the more difficult and all the more important.

"The UAW-represented workers affected by today's action are covered by the job security program and all other provisions and protections of the UAW-Ford National Agreement. Our union will rigorously enforce those programs."

 

I hope it works out for them...

 

It's sad that so many people will be losing their jobs... but with the raping the CAW has done to Ford/GM over the past couple of decades... did they expect something different?

Instead, they're basically saying they're OWED these jobs and that FORD is scum because of the layoffs, AND they're going to rape FORD even MORE to get "all contractually binding provisions that offer protection and benefits to affected UAW workers and retirees."

It's interesting how non-unionized plants are not having these issues or employee mistreatment issues these so-called Unions claim to protect their members from.

Good luck to all of them.

 

Well, this is EXACTLY what happens when people find it cool to buy Honda/Toyota/Nissan/Mitsubishi....etc, the domestic companies get fucked in the ***.

Ever since the advent of those blazing adventures of Ricer glory, aka: The fast and the furious (or the slow and the ricey) 1, 2 and now 3, there has been a HUGE insurgence of import faith and popularity. A product once viewed as a sort of "alternative route" that nobody (including the big three) took seriously has now suddenly flooded the market with their products and John Q. Public is eating them up.

Now, some will argue that "quality" is the issue here and is/was "driving" people to buy imports, well, the "quality" issue has been addressed for YEARS, it is the fact that imports are viewed as superior and you are driving a technologically-flawed dinosaur unless you are driving an Import. The Corvette gets better gas mileage than the Camry, but you don't hear people bragging about that now do you?

The funny part about this (if you can say there IS a funny part) is that the same people who are out there buying the new Honda Ridgeline, their wife drives a Civic, their son drives an Acura, their daughter a Corolla will be all upset and pissed that Ford is letting North America down because they are putting 30,000 people out of work......WAKE THE UP! The reason the domestic car market is in a decline (and has been for years) is because it got cool to buy imports, what was once viewed as a novelty is now mainstream and the "novelty" here is in watching the struggling domestic car companies try to pay their employees, their benefits and all their retirees because their sales have been heavily impacted and are they are now struggling to survive. These people should take a long hard look at themselves and their buying practices before they start pointing their fingers at GM and Ford and saying they are the problem here, take a long look in the mirror folks, its North American buying habbits that are to blame here, not the automobile manufacturers.

Now, I'm not pointing the finger at ANY of the import car makers, its not THEIR fault that people suddenly got a huge interest in their cars, the fact that there are no tarifs to pay to import their products here, that they can setup manufacturing/assembly facilities and assemble their cars over here and don't have the 50+ years of baggage in terms of benefits and retirees that the big three pay into makes the profits on their sales HUGE in comparison to any of the domestic companies.

Ford, GM and Chrysler have had basically free-reign on the domestic market since the car was first mass produced here. They have established a sort of automotive empire if you will, inside that empire is a heirarchical chain of companies and individuals that all feed the empire, this includes body panel manufacturing facilities, electronics companies, supply chains, 3rd party vendors....etc the list is HUGE. These companies and the individuals inside these companies all purchase the empire's product, its a delicate balance, a system that feeds itself and is engrained in the North American economy. The empire's product is being undercut now and when the empire suffers, the pain trickles down and the entire North American economy will suffer, and that means all of us.

Nobody has benefited from any of this except Hollywood film makers who get record sales to their hidious Slow and the Ricey films and of course the import car companies who are reaping the benefits of a market of sheep that will believe anything the mass-media publish. Anybody who wants to blame Ford, Dodge or GM here can take a look in their driveway, if it isn't a big-three product there, then the only person they can blame is themselves.

Rant mode off.

 

Overkill...good write up and good read.

While I totally agree with you...I offer one caveat.

Most, if not all "imports" are being built for the North American market...IN NORTH AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!

Call them imports if you want too...but they're not.

Personally...when we replace the wife's grocery-getter, it will likely be a "big 3" vehicle.

Ironically...the wife is not a fan of the precise feel of the "imports"...she like the "sloppy" dis-connected feel/performace of the "domestics".

Personally...I think the wife is missing out!

 

I agree, and I did make reference to that. While they are being manufactured here though, the manufacturing facilities do not have the same sort of overhead in terms of prior employees and their benefits/pensions, so there is a LOT more profit being made at these facilities then there are at the Domestic ones.

 

That's a load of BS. The ONLY overhead they do not share with the big 3 rape victims are UNION related overhead.

The employees are paid pretty much the same, and treated fairly - and that statement was delivered to me from a HONDA plant worker who says he would never want a Union to come in and destroy the, in his words "excellent relationship" the workers have with their employer (HONDA in that case).

None of these workers are OWED a job by any corporation, contrary to what the Union believes.

Why are so many people afraid to state what can be clearly seen? How much did you pay in Union dues in your lifetime. What did you get back for it? Was it worth it back then? Is it worth it now that you're left without a job? THINK... (rhetorical questions for anyone wanting to reply)

 

Actually...

"The average American content of the vehicles sold in America by U.S.-based companies is 80 percent, compared to 31 percent for Japanese manufacturers, 5 percent for European and 2 percent for Korean."
Source: Detroit News

 

That quote seems misleading...cause it would account for car components being built...and I'm referring to overall assembly....and it also doesn't account for "North America"....if memory serves...Canada builds a few things...as does Mexico.

I assumed that most vehicles in North America were "assembled" here.

 

I was referring to the fact that Ford has been employing people in North America at their assembly plants (as has GM) for DECADES! So, they are paying Pensions, benefits and things for employees who are no longer making them money, that is what I'm referring to as higher overhead. If Bill, his dad and his grandpa were all Ford Employees, Ford is paying the benefits for all THREE generations here, even though only the latest generation is now making money for them, understand now?