goblue1999

Clearly, what has gone around, has come your way, and then some. Enjoy the dung pie.

Just as the mechanics were sure they wouldn't lose their jobs at NW. Very naive position to take. This is for real. The judge can simply allow Delphi to throw out the contract, slash jobs permanently, change the wage and benefit scale unilaterally, throw away the pension.....all bets are off in Chapter 11.

It is illegal for teachers to strike in Michigan, it seems to have made the teachers more agreeable at the bargaining table. What do they want, they are de-facto government employees. If they want the big money, go into the private sector, better yet, work for yourself.

I agree that the Corporate Officers are just lining their pockets on this one, it wasn't enough that they would get 12 months pay (880K to 1M) for leaving with good cause. The board is the group that is approving this, and they are accountable to the shareholders. Honestly, if the UAW wants to have any future, they may have to become shareholders, via employee buyouts. The union, and its members, need to take ownership of a company, like Delphi, and clean house. They could then run the company with a profit motive, and see the ramifications of their contract provisions. It could be quite an eye opener for them, and we could finally expect to stop hearing them whine about "the man" opressing them.

there is no question that Wagoner's "leadership" has been a major disappointment. You and I may disagree, however, on his greatest shortcoming. His ill-conceived alliances have cost the company dearly, in lost time and lost capital. But his greatest shortcoming is in not standing up to the union and forcing this uncompetitiveness issue sooner. You can talk all you want about autoworkers having it badly, but you are off by a mile. Based on the marketable skills of the vast majority of those under the UAW banner, they are paid at least 200% more than their market value, in some cases closer to 250 or 300% . Those high wages, in and of themselves, are not enough to sink Delphi, or GM. Put them in combination with the legacy costs of pension and retiree healthcare, and add to it the wasteful health-care consumption by current employees (see Viagara, et. al.) the high absenteeism rates and the obscenely expensive "guaranteed employement" (read Jobs bank) and you have a recipe for bankruptcy. Wagoner, and Zarella before him, have done GM stakeholders no favors, and he should be broomed aside. In fact, if the Union has a collective brain, they would absolutely require that he be gone, as a precondition to any concessions that they make. Union representation simply places too much resistance to the flexibility and change that competitive organizations need in order to compete globally. You need to look no further than any market share or earnings plot of those companies and industries that use Union employees. A nearly straight downward path since the late 70s, with the occasional up blip driven by overwhelming demographic forces that are waning with passing of the boomer generation. Nothing but downhill from here, while non-Union companies (like Toyota and Wal-Mart) rake in the cash, further burying the Union firms. Wagoner doesn't have the guts to stand up to the union, he should go. It won't do any good for the union to come to the table, they are going extinct either way. Unfortunately, they will probably take GM and Delphi down with them.

doesn't make much sense to compare epa figures on fuel economy, there is too much spread in the numbers, too much variation in real world driving. It is more appropriate to google your way into real numbers, possible posted by car mags. We all know what the Japanese do with horsepower estimates....

I certainly disagree. the power needed to shave this kind of time off an already quick 0-60 is substantial.

Just saw a Lucerne on the highway today, on the way home from work. The lines were foreign to my well trained eye. At first glance I said, that is pretty sharp, looks like a Nissan from the back...to my surprise, a Buick. It actually has a chance.

Yup, the Hummer is beyond stupid....that is, until the EMTs are scraping the remains of your little $hit box off its undercarriage. Go ahead and drive the diminutive one, the gas you save I will gladly consume in my boat, which could also use your car as an anchor. At least we won't have to worry about your family tree sprouting any branches, you won't live to procreate.

Better yet, use the little crap box as a deceleration assistance device. When traveling faster than the brakes can handle, simply toss the cute little box of bolts out the window, with a chain secured to the strongest structural member (probably the radio knob) and allow the frictional forces to assist in stopping.

Thanks for your deep thought, you know where you can put your well put.

Fortunately, we don't have to settle for simply meeting our needs. We have the choice to aspire to a want, something the socialists wouldn't dare dream of.

Yeah, I wan't a complicated,fancy marketing driving gizmo in my car at all costs, it doesn't matter to me if it works, much less kills my toddler.

so you can see the cute baby spit up while you're driving, of course.

You noted ONE downside to Unions, it would take me the rest of the night, and then some, to enumerate all of the downsides that I have personally witnessed in my 25 years in the auto business. Getting paid for no work is actually one of the least insidious of them all.

Selling more cars doesn't mask the fact that labor is cheaper elsewhere. GM can design and develop the best vehicles in the world, but to maintain competitiveness, they need to produce them at world class levels of quality and cost.

After re-reading all of your posts, I would suggest the first order of business in your re-investment in yourself should be a class in macro-economics. You need to get a handle on the whole supply-demand thing.

Regarding the northwest union, the market has spoken, they are overpaid. The company's shareholders (including little old ladies in Oklahoma) won't stand for it anymore, they demand that the management right the ship. if the union workers are lucky to have a job, they should be happy with 40% less , and hopefully they have been saving the lottery winnings that have been in their checks all these years.

Simple example, you say you are "skilled", that is a nebulous statement. Imagine that you are a very skilled tV repairman, you are the best, 3 years of schooling, 10 years of experience, there is no one better. Yoo-hoo, You are no longer considered "skilled". People throw their tvs away now, and get a new one for $199. Being skilled has no meaning unless it is put into the context of bringing value to society, to the tune that people would pay for that skill. Kind of like the cobblers of old, no one gets shoes fixed any more.....

You are dead wrong!! People are not paid based on "how hard they work" or "how much they work", that is 2nd grade logic. People are paid based on the value of their output. If you work you behind off digging ditches all day, seven days a week, your work is still worth very little, because the replacement cost is so low. Conversely, you could spend the weekend, writing software that sets up an online auction site, so that you can sell your Pez dispensers. You see that the entire world is willing to pay for the use of your site, and you are a billionaire...ala EBay.

If the market tells you that you are worth $8/hr and you don't like it, you shop yourself around. Your market value, by definition, is what the MARKET will pay you. If you "need" more to get by, you need to invest in yourself, instead of sitting around waiting for someone to hand you a $20/hr job, and lifetime healthcare to boot. I have kids, I am saving for their future, and helping to guide their education so that they will have options. That is your responsibility to do that for your kids as well, not mine.

Josh, are you a socialist, or delusional. he said capitalism. In capitalism we all have a say in what we are worth. No one is forced to work for the man, or company X, or GM. If you don't like what company X is willing to pay you, you shop your skills around, and you are free to chase the top dollar.....it is a free country, thank God. We all have options, and in this country we have opportunity. If your skills aren't valued in the capitalist marketplace, you can start your own company, or your own webiste, or whatever. The problem is when a bunch of disgruntled, low skilled doofi get together and blackmail a company into paying them above market wages. This is wrong, it minimizes personal responsibility and self reliance, and it has no place in America.

You may still be able to buy the clad package, as an accessory from SPO.

Besides the fact that we like to ride up on your rear bumper and show you our headlights......many of us own, and enjoy, pulling boats and trailers, which the non-monsters don't do well, if at all. Be fortunate that this is America, where your stupid opinion is allowed with all of the others. And, by the way, thanks for not guzzling fuel (with whatever econobox you squeeze into), all the more for me.

What would you say to a 4.8L Vortec V-8??? What would you say if I said I have seen mules running around with the 5.3??