Post by psychecc on Aug 18, 2008 15:44:41 GMT -6
I don't pretend to understand the myriad challenges facing GM, but this article seems heavy on excuses and light on accepting any responsibility for planning ahead back when the industry was booming and they were making a ton of money just on the financing of the cars they sold.
I'm sure these Delphi workers wish they'd never been "spun-off" from GM in their bid to remain "competitive." If I remember correctly, Delphi went into bankruptcy only about five years after GM dumped them. This seems a common practice in Corporate America. Divest of the less profitable portion of the company, and let it fail. I'm sure they've been able to replace some of these American workers with cheaper, foreign ones.
On top of the job cuts, they actually have the nerve to try a positive spin on them. Look at the tone of this article. Phrases like--Dephi is reacting quickly to align its business with changing conditions and remain competitive. It sounds like he wants a medal for cutting those jobs.
Whatever happened to companies that understood their continued success was dependent upon happy, hard-working employees? Henry Ford said he paid his workers well so they could afford to buy his cars. Looking at the attitude of big business toward "labor costs" today, you'd swear they see their employees as enemies.
If you ask me, government intervention on behalf of our auto industry would have been much wiser than the periodic bailouts of the banking/financial industry over the last 20 or so years. Perhaps if we'd had tariffs on foreign cars, we wouldn't have had tax dollars buying out Fannie and Freddie. PLEASE don't ask me how the two are related.
I'm not an economist, but my instincts tell me that a strong economy with well-paid workers who can afford to buy the products they make would go along way toward lower imports and higher tax revenues to keep things running smoothly. I better stop before I dig too big a hole for myself.
I just know that the American worker has been the tragic casualty of globalization.
___________________________________________
The Associated Press August 18, 2008, 1:59PM ET
Delphi to cut 600 white-collar jobs
By BREE FOWLER
NEW YORK
Delphi Corp. said Monday that its electronics and safety division will lay off about 600 of its 3,200 U.S. salaried workers, blaming a steep drop in automaker demand for its components.
Delphi Spokesman Milton Beach said the job cuts are part of a plan to cut the division's total costs by 25 percent as a result of the dramatic decrease in North American vehicle production this year.
The bulk of the jobs cuts will take place in Kokomo, Ind., where about 2,500 of the division's white-collar workers are based. The rest of the cuts will come from other locations in places such as the Michigan cities of Flint and Auburn Hills, along with Milwaukee and Vandalia, Ohio, Beach said.
Beach said Delphi hopes to achieve as many of the cuts as possible through attrition.
Delphi officials, who told workers of the job cuts at a meeting in Kokomo Monday, said the moves were needed to align the company's resources with a changing market.
"Consumer trends and market conditions have caused fundamental shifts in consumer preferences, impacting both the volume and mix of vehicles produced by our North American customers," Jeff Owens, president of Delphi Electronics & Safety, said in a statement.
"Delphi E&S is reacting quickly to align its business with these rapidly changing conditions to assure Delphi's continued competitiveness."
Record-high gas prices, weak consumer confidence and troubles in the lending industries have resulting in a dramatic decrease in U.S. vehicle demand, forcing automakers to scale back production and resulting in lower orders to companies such as Delphi.
In addition, the high gas prices have prompted a consumer shift in preferences away from gas-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient cars, which use less electronic components, Beach said.
Delphi, the former parts-making unit of General Motors Corp., has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since October 2005.
And its fortunes remain significantly tied to those of GM. The Detroit-based automaker has promised nearly $1 billion in loans to help Delphi emerge from bankruptcy protection and it remains the company's largest customer....
www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D92KRIN00.htm
I'm sure these Delphi workers wish they'd never been "spun-off" from GM in their bid to remain "competitive." If I remember correctly, Delphi went into bankruptcy only about five years after GM dumped them. This seems a common practice in Corporate America. Divest of the less profitable portion of the company, and let it fail. I'm sure they've been able to replace some of these American workers with cheaper, foreign ones.
On top of the job cuts, they actually have the nerve to try a positive spin on them. Look at the tone of this article. Phrases like--Dephi is reacting quickly to align its business with changing conditions and remain competitive. It sounds like he wants a medal for cutting those jobs.
Whatever happened to companies that understood their continued success was dependent upon happy, hard-working employees? Henry Ford said he paid his workers well so they could afford to buy his cars. Looking at the attitude of big business toward "labor costs" today, you'd swear they see their employees as enemies.
If you ask me, government intervention on behalf of our auto industry would have been much wiser than the periodic bailouts of the banking/financial industry over the last 20 or so years. Perhaps if we'd had tariffs on foreign cars, we wouldn't have had tax dollars buying out Fannie and Freddie. PLEASE don't ask me how the two are related.
I'm not an economist, but my instincts tell me that a strong economy with well-paid workers who can afford to buy the products they make would go along way toward lower imports and higher tax revenues to keep things running smoothly. I better stop before I dig too big a hole for myself.
I just know that the American worker has been the tragic casualty of globalization.
___________________________________________
The Associated Press August 18, 2008, 1:59PM ET
Delphi to cut 600 white-collar jobs
By BREE FOWLER
NEW YORK
Delphi Corp. said Monday that its electronics and safety division will lay off about 600 of its 3,200 U.S. salaried workers, blaming a steep drop in automaker demand for its components.
Delphi Spokesman Milton Beach said the job cuts are part of a plan to cut the division's total costs by 25 percent as a result of the dramatic decrease in North American vehicle production this year.
The bulk of the jobs cuts will take place in Kokomo, Ind., where about 2,500 of the division's white-collar workers are based. The rest of the cuts will come from other locations in places such as the Michigan cities of Flint and Auburn Hills, along with Milwaukee and Vandalia, Ohio, Beach said.
Beach said Delphi hopes to achieve as many of the cuts as possible through attrition.
Delphi officials, who told workers of the job cuts at a meeting in Kokomo Monday, said the moves were needed to align the company's resources with a changing market.
"Consumer trends and market conditions have caused fundamental shifts in consumer preferences, impacting both the volume and mix of vehicles produced by our North American customers," Jeff Owens, president of Delphi Electronics & Safety, said in a statement.
"Delphi E&S is reacting quickly to align its business with these rapidly changing conditions to assure Delphi's continued competitiveness."
Record-high gas prices, weak consumer confidence and troubles in the lending industries have resulting in a dramatic decrease in U.S. vehicle demand, forcing automakers to scale back production and resulting in lower orders to companies such as Delphi.
In addition, the high gas prices have prompted a consumer shift in preferences away from gas-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient cars, which use less electronic components, Beach said.
Delphi, the former parts-making unit of General Motors Corp., has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since October 2005.
And its fortunes remain significantly tied to those of GM. The Detroit-based automaker has promised nearly $1 billion in loans to help Delphi emerge from bankruptcy protection and it remains the company's largest customer....
www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D92KRIN00.htm