longtooth

Better a legion of 'Gecko' types. They'll be looking after my interests as well. The new hires will enjoy the fruits of those 'labors' Gecko endeavors to perform. That they will. :AH-HA_wink:

We are skeptical but highly evolved fatalists. Personally I've a contingency for the time between now and the beginning of my Medicaid. Pension default contingency also spun-off from the Employee Stock Ownership benefit circa the 1980's. My deceased wife insisted on additional protections for us as well as maximizing our contributions to the plan at the time. She insisted that we minimize our exposure to risk as much as possible.

So what? Smaller pie. Fewer workers. Make mine 'a la mode'.

Why would I need be involved with that? Or you? Are you just preternaturally disposed to be inquisitive of the affairs of others? The wage scale for the foreign branded transplants has been thus far buoyed by the prevailing rate at unionized shops. As the changeover proceeds within the ranks of GM hourly, wages, benefits and the 'happy Keebler Elves' work ethic of the transplants'll no doubt follow suit in line with the current paradigm at the Domestics.

GM will get past people like me. They have carte blanche to hire plenty of new workers starting at $14 an hour, minimal benefits. The deck is being cleared. We call the new hires 'the people who aren't there'. An semi-ambitious new 'workers-class' who'll likely burn out before their first decade. We'll see. Such are the vagaries of time.

Do you realize that people comment on the 'autoworkers', their pay, their benefits without ever having put in a full shift in an assembly plant? I've been in GM's employ 33 years and counting. People comment and make their judgements of us out of ignorance. Only those who have been 'there and back' can make an informed appraisal of us and our lives. I enjoy being an anachronism, well versed and well paid. So, who is laughing now? :AH-HA_wink:

Listen closely since I'll only address this one more time. This site is to honor the 'car culture'. Few people beyond the members posting here have any interest in knowing of how their shiny car/truck in which they just drove of the lot came into being. Like Otto von Bismarck said: "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made". Apply that notion to auto-assembly. There are fewer GM, Ford and Chrysler UAW represented autoworkers toiling today than at any time in recent and long memory. We're an insular group. We'll stay or go on our own terms. GM is going to have to pay us for either choice. The cost of doing business. When dinosaurs such as we are finished and done with, perhaps the idyllic, responsive GM which everyone here seems to want can finally exist unfettered. But until that time arrives, we'll still be on the job, business as usual, earning our pay and benefits.

The oldtimers don't care! Even then at the end, they'll throw more money at us!

GM's being financed by the Chinese. GM'll be okay. Just have to put on a good show.

One reason that I am proud of being Union is the knee-jerk reactions of outrage it solicits from those outside of our cozy little loop. Carry on. Building, Sky, Solstice and friends in DE.

I hear you. I wish I had the eloquence to rebut the 'One World-ers' who think this is all just fine. Too much, much too fast. Makes me glad I'm old.

The Cause? Are we that shortsighted collectively?

IMO. There's nothing sadder looking than a two and a half year-old KIA, still three years and some months away from being paid-off, missing at least one hubcap, dented and needing a bath. The person who purchased this tragedy on wheels, and the millions like them are the target demographic for the coming flood of cheap, disposable cars. There'll still be an upscale market. Just not as large as what we've been accustomed to here. America's in retrograde. We not the 'little engine who could' any longer.

Symbiotic. :AH-HA_wink:

GM is continuing to evolve. The Chinese financial overlords will continue to underwrite the cost of GM's North American turn-around until the 'ship of state' rights itself. The rules for the next ten years are being written. GM has a slew of venerated brands. The Chinese have deep pockets. Very deep. Symbiosis. Pure. Simple. This is in my opinion what we're witnessing now.

Right on. A little tawdry. But consider the target demo. :AH-HA_wink:

Newark, DE has the Durango/Aspen plant running at a fraction of it's capacity. Their paint shop's newly refurbished and state-of-the-art. Why squander a resource by closing this plant, when your Nissan and your Chrysler are dying to get it on? Please don't even mention the UAW. It's a bit too gratuitous by now. In less than a year, they could hire new off of the street.

Seriously, who is being patronizing?

'IfICouldWouldYou?'; Rome.

Apathy? Symptom of a greater underlying malaise? We seem to have compressed what befell Rome to fit the span of a few decades. My not having a practical solution causes me to feel glad that I'm old. Thank you for taking the time to consider and respond. Perhaps this festering wound requires same airing.

By blaming Unions, the D3 the scope of the problem is artificially limited. Like hiding under the covers. I apologize if it would seem to some as pushing an agenda. I'll throw in the New York Times link one last time so it can be recognized more readily. sit back and take my 'lumps'. Thank you. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/opinion/...&ei=5087%0A

By the way. Unions are not the problem. Their workers comprise around 12% of the workforce. The 'workplace' and the 'working-world' as some have termed it is not so inviting and hospitable as some would have you believe it is. It is presently like a game of musical chairs. Too much music and far too few chairs. IT jobs can be key-stroked overnight to Rawalpindi and Bangalore. Bill Gates pleads before Congress for more H1B visas, a spectacle as regular as the cherry blossom festival down in DC. Colleges graduate sub-standard product and a marksman occasionally. America is in retrograde. Tip. Iceberg. I'm adding this link to a New York Times piece which speaks to the concerns of some with regard to education and to how it may affect the Nation as a whole and our competitiveness in the Global arena. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/opinion/...&ei=5087%0A

Dodgefan, Moltar; both ideas/concepts have merit. I didn't investigate enough to find the anticipated curb weight. We'd want the Invicta to come off of the line with purpose. No deal if she'd be smoked by an Altima. Needs to be as swift as a V8 Charger.

I'd think that would be a given. How would you equip it?

Lovely dragon-face. Any doubt it'd sell here?