Chrysler to cut up to 12,000 jobs

[rodeodance]

Source: ap



Chrysler to cut up to 12,000 jobs

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer 5 minutes ago

DETROIT - Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its work force, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand for some vehicles.


The automaker will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs through 2008 and salaried employment by about 2,100. It will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and eliminate four products from its line-up.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_bi_ge/chrysler_job_cuts;_ylt=AsbUkDGX0t5GgbtydCuInzNg.3QA

[OhioChick]

1. Was This Part of The Approved Contract?

UAW members approve Chrysler contract

Detroit, Oct 28: Despite significant dissent among some of its workers, United Auto Workers members narrowly passed a four-year contract agreement with Chrysler LLC on Saturday, leaving Ford Motor Co. as the last automaker to negotiate with in this year's round of contract talks.

Talks with Ford were proceeding Saturday, although union leadership wasn't expected to attend and no agreement was expected during the weekend, a person briefed on the talks said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

The union said 56 percent of production workers and 51 percent of skilled trades workers voted for the Chrysler pact. The percentages voting in favor were much higher among clerical workers and engineers represented by the union.

The contract covers about 45,000 active workers at Chrysler and more than 55,000 Chrysler retirees and 23,000 surviving spouses. It will expire on Sept. 14, 2011.

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=404011&ssid=53&ssname=Companies%20and%20Commodities&sid=BUS&sname=LATEST-BUSINESS-NEWS

[JeanGrey]

31. This is why you can never win, even if you think you have.

They just lay off enough people to counter the costs of what was "won".

[tammywammy]

39. It says here that the production changes were made available to plants

"Some workers felt betrayed by the announcement. In voting that ended Saturday, just 56 percent of Chrysler's U.S. production workers and 51 percent of skilled trades workers approved the new agreement after heavy lobbying by the United Auto Workers union.

"I think we just got sold out by our leadership," said Edward Mendrysa, 56, of Southgate, who for the past 13 years has worked on the door line at the Jefferson North plant in Detroit. The plant, which makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Commander sport utility vehicles, is one of five that will have a shift eliminated under the plan.

The UAW said information on upcoming production changes was shared with plants. But the union has little control over job cuts that are related to production volume, and Chrysler cited overproduction and sluggish sales for the cuts.

"Our union will make sure our members receive all of the benefits and protections to which they are entitled under the contract," UAW spokeswoman Christine Moroski said."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110200382.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. All you need to know:

Bob Nardelli, CEO.

See: Home Depot.

[leveymg]

7. Also see, the Cerberus-Gabriel vulture capital fund that bought Chrysler.

The very same outfit that links the Walter Reid Army Hospital and CIA privatization scandals to Rumsfeld, Cheney, Dan Quail and a group of Rightwing Russian and American oligarchs that took over the Israeli banking system. See, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x377023

Global corporate buyout and dismemberment - the new business model and strategic threat for 21st Century America.

[musiclawyer]

3. My prediction at edmunds some time ago

shortly after the buyout was the Chrysler would lose significant payroll and eventually most operations would be shifted to Asia, and then Chrysler would be bought again by an asian car company. Flip complete--End of American Chysler. One of the three has happened thus far.

[Deja Q]

4. But will people trust those Asian products?

[Bassic]

5. They trust all the other asian products.

I don't see why they wounldn't trust this one.

[sarcasmo]

9. Especially the Made In China, support our Troops stickers.

[JeanGrey]

32. Have you seen the cars we're making? Yeah, they

will trust them.

[truthisfreedom]

6. Oh, lovely. Just another wonderful day in Amurika, under the black cloud of bushco.

[Psephos]

10. What kind of car do you drive?

If it's US-made, big thumbs up to you.

If not, it's a reminder that many of us on the left side of the spectrum don't buy the cars that would keep Americans employed building cars.

Most of my blue friends drive imports; most of my red friends don't. We need to fix this...it's pure hypocrisy.

[HughBeaumont]

11. 1997 Cavalier, assembled in Lansing Michigan.

230,000 miles. Not a significant difference in driving quality.

The American consumer isn't completely blameless; however, neither is the American car company.

[Psephos]

13. lol I was assembled in Lansing, Michigan, too

I agree with your point completely, btw.

[tabasco]

12. We need to fix your hypocritical friends?

What are you trying to say?

[Psephos]

14. No, we need to encourage progressives as a group to buy more US-made cars

My friends have nothing to do with it. But you already knew that.

[tabasco]

15. How do you know what kind of cars progressives drive?

That is something I do not know.

[Psephos]

18. I looked it up

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/automobiles/01red.html?ex=1270011600&en=6eb3a66907e78b2f&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Excerpt:

"Among their findings: buyers of American cars tend to be Republican - except, for some reason, those who buy Pontiacs, who tend to be Democrats. Foreign-brand compact cars are usually bought by Democrats - but not Mini Coopers, which are bought by almost equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans."


BTW, were you really trying to say you haven't noticed among your own acquaintances that progressives skew toward foreign makes? Driving foreign is a fashion statement among too many people I know - tough luck to the American union workers unlucky enough to build cars the fashionistas won't be caught dead in.

[CRF450]

20. It does seem true from my observation.

My two vehicles are an 01 Pontiac Trans Am WS6, and the other is an 01 Dodge Dakota 4x4 SLT quad cab. Both that are great vehicles! The T/A is fast and fun to drive, gets pretty good fuel milage for such a high powered car using premium fuel, and other than some little problems (flip up headlight gears, and window motors) its been very reliable! Yes, the interior sucks big time, its cheap, some panels rattle, the stock speakers dont last long at all which is ok, cause I ripped all that out for an aftermarket system. Best thing about it are the seats, they're pretty comfortable even with the plastic cheap leather!

The Dakota has been very good to me too. The size of it is just right for me, not too big, not too small. I kinda wish the motor had some more power sometimes, and it only gets comparable fuel milage to a full size truck at around 16mpg on average, the v6 motors are not worth looking at. Basically the same mpg with way less horsepower.

[tabasco]

23. LMAO!

"Last year, the Republican National Committee applied data supplied by Scarborough Research, a New York market research firm..."


Good sources there. :rofl:

[Psephos]

26. The NYT is credible enough to me to warrant discussion

It's a newspaper article, not a scientific monograph. You have some evidence the surveys were inaccurate? Don't be stingy.

The article cites several sources. You ignored the survey by CNW Marketing Research of Bandon, Oregon. Doesn't fit your trope?

And other interesting (and corroborating) information:

Volunteers counted more than 1,300 bumper stickers in a half dozen states from Sept. 20 to Oct. 31 and came up with results (http://www.laze.net/bumpers) that roughly jibed with the much larger market-research surveys. Like the larger surveys, the Political Bumpers totals added up to within a couple of percentage points of the 51-percent-to-48 result of the 2004 presidential election.

The Political Bumpers spotters, who recorded bumper stickers in favor of or against any of the candidates in the 2004 election, found that the drivers of pickup trucks and large S.U.V.'s were overwhelmingly right-leaning. But the leader of the project, Ryan MacMichael, of Leesburg, Va., said his biggest surprise was the pronounced Democratic skew of bumper stickers on economy cars (71 percent were left-leaning) and station wagons (67 percent).

As for your cherry-picked argument, RNC commissioned an established marketing company (Scarborough) to research the brand preferences of cars by political affiliation so RNC could target advertising to their own party members. They had a strong financial incentive to conduct an accurate survey, and no political incentive not to. You've committed one of the basic sins of logic when it comes to human behavior: you aren't following the money.

The multiple sources sat well enought with John Tierney, whom I respect more than you as an arbiter of reliability, and his editors as well, whom I trust more than you to assess newsworthiness. I'm not saying this isn't arguable, but I am saying it's worth discussing.

Why are you so vested in this not being true? Maybe I should be the one LMAO. :-)

PS - What do you drive? Are you helping keep UAW members employed?

[tabasco]

30. Suffice it to say ...

information from the RNC and a "bumper sticker survey" is not what I take very seriously. ANY information released by the RNC has a political motivation and to think otherwise is just plain stupid.

The other survey said republicans buy more Hummers and Porsches. Big surprise there.

And lest we forget, the NY Times is the same newspapaper that employed Judith Miller to foist Ahmed Chalabi's lies on the American people.

Sorry Charlie. Not buying this crapola.

[Psephos]

41. Suffice it to further say...

Anyone can win an argument as long as they make up the rules.

The fallacy that because someone you don't like says something it must not be true is usually taught in introductory logic. It could be true, it could be false; it requires an actual argument and evidence to decide one way or the other. You provide none.

I can't argue religion with a true believer. So I won't. Meanwhile, you're left denying what's obvious to a casual observer, that blues favor imports more than reds, forget the article.

"When a man points at the moon, a fool looks at the finger."
- Sufi saying

[krkaufman]

24. Sadly, the article doesn't slice the data by gas mileage.

Let's not skip the part of the article that mentions Rethugs *aren't* American car buyers, where it highlights their dominant purchases of Porsches, Jaguars and Land Rovers.

It seems to me, from the article, that Democrats tend to buy cars from foreign corporations more than US corporations (skipping the misleading "American-made" terminology) owing to better fuel efficiency and because the cars are more affordable. How about GM, Ford and Chrysler building reliable, fuel efficient, competitively-priced vehicles, rather than holding to their high-profit SUV strategy?

The saddest detail from the article, in my opinion, is that Republicans may become the majority in the country, out-breeding Democrats, on average, with 3.5 kids per family to 1.7. Well, that is, until their policies bitch-slap them back to reality.

p.s. Ok, are these lyrics satirical, or is the songwriter *that* clueless...

"Does she think she knows what I stand for/Or the things that I believe/Just by looking at a sticker for the U.S. Marines/On the bumper of my S.U.V.?"

[Psephos]

28. That's a good point

(about the mpg)

As for affordability, US cars carry roughly $2000 per car in additional costs for retiree and family ("legacy") medical and pension benefits, compared to foreign competitors. No wonder it's tough to deliver the same goods for the same money.

When you add up all the labor costs, the US worker makes about $70/hr, the Japanese about $40/hr, the S.E. Asian about $25/hr, and the Chinese about $10/hr.

In general, we advocate taxing to provide benefits, yet many progressives won't pay that social cost when we buy a car to protect the US autoworker. That's what seems at odds with progressive values to me.

Anyway, we needn't agree on all points in order to have a good discussion, and I enjoy this exchange with you. Good catch on those lyrics, too. :thumbsup:

[fujiyama]

16. Spare us the self righteousness - the red friends are likely driving the behemoths that too

If US automakers had a history of making vehicles that were reliable for a long time and fuel efficient, I'm sure many more would buy them.

The unfortunate thing is, even when Ford for example is improving its quality, there was a period where the vehicles were so unreliable people just don't trust them.

BTW, I drive a Saturn Ion. It drives well and has been fairly reliable, but certain aspects even there leave something to be desired - like the interior.

[Psephos]

17. Wrong target. The self-righteous are the original posters who excoriate the car makers

but don't support their workers by actually doing the one thing that would preserve their jobs.

[krkaufman]

25. This comment ignores the fact that the Big Three have failed to produce ...

... reliable, fuel-efficient, competitively-priced vehicles, in favor of focusing on their high-profit SUV and truck lines.

But the workers are not without blame, as the unions and Big Three politicians have all resisted increasing CAFE standards as a measure that would hurt jobs.

[Psephos]

27. How then do you accommodate my 37mpg Saturn?

There are good choices of US-made cars available, but ideologues won't even go to the showrooms or read about them, because they "know" that US makers only sell SUVs.

Meanwhile, the layoffs continue....

[Telly Savalas]

34. Unless I'm overlooking something, Chrysler doesn't make anything

that gets more than 29 mpg on the highway, and most of their products do much worse:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/Chrysler2007.shtml

Nardelli has no clue as to what he's doing, and Americans shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of paying for his ludicrous compensation package by buying his shitty products in the dubious hopes that he'll be merciful and not fire more workers.

[truthisfreedom]

21. I admit it, I drive a BMW and a Mercedes, but I owned American cars more often than not

throughout my life. Be that as it may, the US car industry is falling apart under the watchful eye of bush, et al, and I give credit where it's due.

[Psephos]

29. Good karma for your honesty

No one's right or wrong here, but it's valuable to exchange perspectives.

[Blue_Tires]

22. it depends on where you live

my parents and myself have always (to our ridicule) driven GM products...half of the hard-core conservatives i see around here (just based on bumper/window stickers) drive bimmers, nissans, lexus, and of course mercedes---the other half of course drive pickups, but i see tons of liberal stickers on domestic cars...A dirty secret is that RW americans all wave the flag, but would secretly LOVE to see Detroit fail because their hatred of the UAW and the city's minority population overrides their driving choice...

[sarcasmo]

36. I drive a Chevy Aveo, my wife a Saturn Vue.

[NickB79]

37. The Chevy Aveo is made in South Korea

Simply a rebadged Daewoo.

[Psephos]

42. Meanwhile, the Vue is made in Tennessee. Sounds good to me. n/t

[sarcasmo]

43. Chevy still puts their logo on it.

The Saturn has a Honda 250 engine in it.

[Blue_Tires]

8. very sad

how many jobs will be left when all the cuts end?

[entanglement]

19. With 'friends' like the UAW bureaucracy working as co-management, who needs enemies?

Mission accomplished, Ron Gettelfinger. A betrayal of historic proportions, even by UAW standards.

[Solar_Power]

33. US Sales of Hybrids Up 30% in October

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/11/us-sales-of-hyb.html?cid=88567434#comment-88567434

[Beerboy]

35. Daimler-Chrysler is too big to fail;

they'll try to make the taxpayers pay corporate welfare for their failed business model/decisions. Again.
Yet again, the rich fucks are going to take it out of my hide.

[tammywammy]

38. Daimler AG sold off it's share of Chrysler

It's just Chrysler now. Chrysler hasn't been doing well for a few years now, so this really isn't a big surprise.

If the company is overproducing cars, then they need to cut back. Apparently unions don't have control over lay offs due to production.

[PassingFair]

40. It's been PURCHASED by a HEDGE FUND that's named after

the THREE-HEADED DOG that guards the door to HELL.

What do THINK will happen to it?

It will be RENT to pieces.