BK>> The problem is not that GM retirees get full health benefits,
BK>> but that the rest of us don't.

BK>> And GM's retiree health benefits were one of the things put on
BK>> the block in recent negotiations. It will come out of a fund
BK>> that is backed by GM stock. If GM doesn't make it, the benefits
BK>> go away. If GM makes it, but the stock does not go up quickly,
BK>> the benefits will go away anyway.

 TW> That sounds FAIR to me. Stop the Crappy assembly and make a
 TW> car that sells.

 I was told by the mechanic who does my work that American cars
 used to hold up better than imports, in the long run. It's only
 in the last few years they have not. Apparently GM engines were
 really superior.

 As they went down the tubes they have apparently cut back. But
 CEO salaries didn't get cut back.

 I see the same thing where I work. Corporate has put millions in
 to expanding and modifying our plant. But it hasn't held up.
 They buy European equipment that is plastic where American was
 metal, and it falls apart. They get their engineering from the
 suppliers, because they have closed out their own engineering
 dept, and the design stinks to high heaven. The hire outside
 programmers and I find myself rewriting their programs, not only
 so they work, but so that a normal human mind can understand
 them. Not to mention their software comments get written in
 something that appears to be english, but doesn't mean a whole
 lot.

 So, when two lines come together you have an "intersect control"
 instead of which comes first. FIFO is an old computer term, you
 would think they would know it. Or the Jam warning that comes up
 as FIFO fault. HUH?

 That and in one area they have one contractor who does all the
 work, and every single thing they did was crap. And that is a
 non-union firm, BTW. And cheap.

 So, look at the outsourcing, foreign suppliers, and the cost
 cutting race to the bottom for a huge part of the problem. Blame
 the MBAs who focus on short term profits, not long term growth
 and survival. And the anti-union make a buck today and to hell
 with what it does to the country in the long run philosophy.

 Blame those who think working for a living only deserves poverty
 level wages. Those who forget, we work to support our families,
 we don't have families to provide workers.



BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... Ham and eggs: A chicken's day's work; a pig's lifetime commitment.
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